What's going on in CT

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-02-23T09:49:00.000-05:00

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Ok, so I know I haven't blogged in like... forever... but check out these ADORABLE skirts! OMG Piper would have a FIELD DAY in one of these! Too Much Fun! Now to find the time to make one.... Have they invented 48 hour days yet?

Freebie from my new collab: Gabrielle

2008-08-20T20:48:00.002-04:00

My fabulous CT member Tanya made up a couple of brag book pages with my collab kit with Amy Bleser, Gabrielle

Grab the pages HERE and don't miss the Kit and the Heart album at Digital Freebies, ACOT, and PDP!

New kits New kits! Yeah!

2008-08-12T16:44:00.002-04:00

Ok.... no time for small talk - - - check out the new stuff

Gabrielle - Collaboration with Amy Bleser (free mini heart album with purchase this week)

And for the teen/tween boy scene check out SK8ER BOY

Both available and ON SALE at Digital Freebies ,

SK8ER BOY also available at Maria LaFrance Designs

I also have a SK8ER BOY Freebie out at DF, grab it HERE!

Happy scrapping!

Happy Happy Birthday Baby!

2008-07-17T22:29:00.003-04:00

Oh boy.... my baby turned 3 today... I can hardly believe it!

Not sure how I feel about it... sad, happy, depressed, hopeful... all of the above! Anywho...

Happy Birthday Piper!

So in honor of my darling girl's birthday, I'd have a sale in my store

So head on over to Maria LaFrance Designs for 50% off through Sunday (7/20). Sale includes designer resources!

Don't Miss my June Club Kit!

2008-06-23T09:44:00.002-04:00

You have a few days left to snag my AWESOME Beach Blanket kit as part of the Digital Freebies Club! You get my kit and Doreen's Gooooorgeous kit for only $5 for the pair! Plus I have some fabulous add-ons in the Boutique and so does Doreen, so seriously, don't miss out!

National Scrapbooking Day at Digital Freebies

2008-05-02T01:36:00.003-04:00

Finally time to Spill It! Here's the goods on our National Scrapbooking Day Festivities! Starting TODAY!

We've got a TON in store for you this weekend for NSD! Friday through Sunday is a 50% off sale in the Boutique, stock up for a weekend full of scrapping! (sale excludes designer resources, Club, bundles, and commercial use licenses). While you're shopping, be sure to spend $25 or more in one purchase, because that will get you this AMAZING quickpage album put together by the Digital Freebies Staff

($25 must be spent in one purchase, multiple purchases cannot be combined. Links will be sent within 24 hours of payment completion).
If that's not enough, starting Saturday and going through the whole week look for a ton of games, challenges and contests! Each game, contest, or challenge you participate in will earn you a piece* of the spring.fresh mega kit made by the Digital Freebies Staff. This kit is ENORMOUS! Over 400MB of scrapping goodness! There are 34 links to earn, so keep your scrapping mojo going all week long!

If that still isn't enough, most games, challenges and contests also have prizes you can win, including kits, gift certificates to the Digital Freebies Boutique, and Digital Freebies Club memberships!
(*some games will have more than one posting prize to earn, quickpage exchange does not have a posting prize associated with this mega kit).

Sale starts NOW, games, challenges, and contests start on Saturday!

Finally, our designers have added a heap-ful of new products just in time for the sale, so be sure to take a wander around the New Releases section, it will be well worth your time!

Have a FABULOUS weekend!

Time for a new header :)

2008-04-14T17:02:00.002-04:00

Ahhhh... it's April, guess I should put up a new header.

SO a new header, with Easter photos, made from Laura Deacetis' Bloggie Banners 3 available at Shabby Pickle.

It's been a crazy few months. I took on WAY too many classes this semester, I had one in-class class, and 3 online. Plus Piper's 2 gymboree classes a week, Digital Freebies, and trying to design... ack. I hit complete burn out about 2 weeks ago...and so I started crocheting! Go figure. I needed something to get me out from in front of the computer, and crocheting gives me something to do, some purpose other than sitting on my butt watching TV.

What I really should be doing is exercise...I was joking the other day with Dan... there's that saying about baby weight... it's 9 months on, 9 YEARS off...right??? Right??? I mean that's right, because then I still have 6 years to get all this extra weight off... ack. See the thing is, I actually don't have an extra 20 minutes to work out... (as should be obvious by the fact that I haven't posted on the blog since January LOL).

So what else is going on?

Let's see... I've had a few new kits... More than Words, Flutterby, Flutterby Alpha, and Bunny Tracks. Um, I opened my own store: http://www.marialafrancedesigns.com go check it out. It took me a good long time to build it... so you all better like it :) I'm still running the show at Digital Freebies, no worries there. I love that place. The designers and the CT and the challenge hostesess and the members, they all so totally rock. We've got some fun stuff on the horizon in the next few weeks, so it should be fun fun fun! Keep an eye out in the DF newsletter (you can sign up for it on the homepage) and I will post all ads etc at DigiShopTalk as well.

Alrighty, I should go do something productive.

Have a great day!

Ah, a new year, and a new header!

2008-01-15T09:13:00.000-05:00

I swear, thanks to Amy Bleser's FAB blog header templates at Scrapbook-Bytes I have changed my header more inthe past 6 months than I did in the past 2 years LOL. Currently featuring my upcoming Valentine's kit called Sweetie Pie, you, my faithful blog readers, get a sneaky peek of the new kit. Look for it at Digital Freebies next week.

I am currently working on getting my own store up and running, just working out some coding problems I am having with the header, and then we'll be ready to go. I never though, 2 years ago when I started designing that I would ever open my very own shop, but Maria LaFrance Designs is slowly becoming a reality. (Slow because I am doing all the work myself so I can learn how all this stuff works LOL).

So on the personal front, Piper is sick...again. I swear we've got a super bug living in our house that just will not go away no matter what I do! We were all just sick for Christmas, and now we're all going to be sick again. Not to mention we were sick on Thanksgiving, on Halloween, and probably a month before that too.
It's been completely crazy!

My on-the-ground course start next Wednesday at Quinnipiac, one of my online courses is going now, and my other one starts on Jan 30. I am starting at a new school this semester, so I will see which of the online platforms I like more, and probably stick with one rather than both. Or, if it's easy to juggle, maybe keep both. Regardless this is my last physical course for a while. I am going to go strictly onlone for a bit and see how it goes.

we're still trying to find a preschool for Piper for next year. The one I had my heart set on already has a waiting list (we're 8 back). We visited another one last week and weren't all that impressed. The staff was undereducated and the director seems to have lost all passion for the job. It seemed little more than a daycare, which is not what we want for her. It is difficult finding the combination that we need (OK with parent volunteers, all children eat the same snack - for Piper's egg allergy safety). I can seem to find one or the other, and only the 2 schooles (mentioned above) that were OK with both. I found one more, but it's in another town, and I'm not sure how annoying it would be to take her further, as the class is only 2.5 hours. By the time I got back home, settled, and working, it would be near time to drive back out and pick her up again. But, I'm going to schedule a visit anyways, maybe it will be perfect, and there will be a WiFi access cafe next door, so I can bring the laptop and work. Who knows!

Alrighty, off to wash the dishes and get the crock pot going! Gatta love a crock pot dinner :)

Big hugs to all my readers! Stop over at Digital Freebies and see what's new. I don't have a release this week, but there's some great new stuff that you won't want to miss :)

A new header and 2 Christmas kits!

2007-12-22T19:13:00.001-05:00

Ahhh, a new header courtesy of Amy Bleser's Blog Header templates, and retrodiva's Tis the Season kit, loverly.

Here are my latest kits

Whimsical Christmas at Digital Freebies is a fun, non-traditional Christmas kit in bright blues and purples with whimsical graphics. Too fun!

Homespun Christmas at Digital Freebies, a little country, a little whimsy, and a lot of homemade fun. Very versatile, you'll come back to this kit again and again well after Christmas is over.

Off to make dinner! TTYL!

Piper's Ballet

2007-11-24T21:37:00.000-05:00

Well, apparently my daughter got my grace. Specially made JUST for Grandma....I give you PIPER'S BALLET! (including Daddy sound effects)

Ah, the jewel of my eye. Probably too early for Joffrey auditions, eh?

Serenity Collection

2007-11-09T11:44:00.000-05:00

Have you seen my new Serenity Collection yet?

My latest and greatest, the Serenity Collection by Maria LaFrance. Let yourself relax and kick back a bit with this calm-inducing, serenity inspired collection.

Today is the last day to get the Serenity add-on FREE with any $15 or more purchase at Digital Freebies. See the Serenity Add-On item description for more information.

Find the entire Serenity Collection HERE, 30% off for a few more days!

Digital Scrapbooking Day Extravaganza at Digital Freebies

2007-11-02T23:44:00.000-04:00

We've got LOADS of great stuff going on, get more details in the forums HERE

Finally, and updated header!

2007-10-12T09:14:00.000-04:00

I sat down today and though, gee, I should really update my blog header. And then I logged into the CT forum for Amy Bleser, and there were a set of Blog Header Templates, serendipity!

SO, I spent a whole 5 minutes with Amy's awesome templates, and my new Whimsical Halloween kit, and VOILA! New Header!

Grab Amy's templates here at Scrapbook-Bytes, they are super awesome!

Now I might even be inclined to change the header more often than every 6 months LOL.

Whimsical Halloween Brag Book Swap!

2007-10-09T15:43:00.000-04:00

Hey, remember me? I'm the gal who writes on this blog! Yeah...right! More like I'm the gal who completely forgets that this blog exists for days at a time.

Anywho, all's well here in the land of business. On to the important stuff before the munchkin wakes up! I have a new fantabulous kit, Whimsical Halloween. OK so I'm a halloween addict and in the 2.5 years I have been designing this is my 4th halloween kit LOL. But, if it works, go with it, right?

Anywho here's the new kit!

You can grab it at Digital Freebies on sale this week only for 30% off.

Also new this week is a second set of brag book templates, Brag About It Again!

Also at Digital Freebies, also 30% off this week. If you're a designer making brag books for sale, there is also a Designer Resource version of these templates, again on sale 30% off this week only.

So I figured, hey, new kit, new templates, why not have another FABULOUS brag book swap! And so I am!

Here's the details:
Scrap a 6x4" 300ppi layout using my brand spankin' new Whimsical Halloween kit
Delete out the photo area(s) and save as a PNG file
Email your files to maria@marialafrancedesigns.com by 10/22, 11:59pm EST
Receive all of the other submitted pages in return!

Wanna go the easy route? Use one of the Brag About It or Brag About It Again templates!

Fun stuff! People have gotten huge gigantic brag books from my swaps in the past, so let's all make this one fantastic as well!

Hope that everyone is enjoying all that Fall has to offer, I know I am!!

Something that everyone needs to see...

2007-08-27T19:43:00.000-04:00

I had the amazing opportunity to collaborate with some of the most amazing designers on a project that is benefitting 2 amazing causes.

Journey of the Heart is a collaboration kit benefitting Love Without Boundaries and Half the Sky. Did you SEE the designers that I worked with on this kit??? Amazing!

This kit is HUGE and the price is FAB and the causes are AMAZING! So run on over to Oscraps and grab this amazing kit!

Big huge special squishy hugs to Kimberly for getting me involved in this project.

What did you do this summer?

2007-08-15T14:45:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's right! I'm having a layout contest!! Here's the scoop!

Scrap a layout about your summer! Did you go on vacation? Have a shopping spree? Read Harry Potter in 36 hours (yep, that's what I did this summer!)?

Layout must be created primarily with Maria LaFrance Designs products (75% or more, products can be freebies, collab kit pieces, or purchased kits).

Email a 600x600px version of your layout, under 100K, to maria AT marialafrancedesigns DOT com by 11:59 pm (EST) August 31st. All entries must be received via email by the deadline. Links to layouts will NOT be accepted! Layouts may be posted in galleries prior to contest deadline.

One entry per person

Maria LaFrance creative team members not eligible.

All entries will be posted on my blog on Sept 1 and winner(s) will be announced Sept 8th. My creative team will be choosing the winner(s).

GRAND PRIZE: ONE YEAR ACCESS TO ALL MARIA LAFRANCE DESIGNS KITS! (excluding designer resources and commercial licenses).

Depending on the number of entries, other prizes may be available as well!

So get scrapping!!!

Grab Bag Contents REVEALED!

2007-07-31T15:06:00.000-04:00

Well here it is! If you missed it, you're in (kind of) luck! Each of these items are available at my stores at DF and DSD now for 30% off! (if you purchased it as a grab bag you got them for over 75% off... WOWZERS!)

I also have a FAB new brag book

available at both DF and DSD (links are on the right over there)

and today is the LAST DAY to submit layouts for the Juicy bragbook Swap! Scroll down a few posts to get the details!

GRAB BAG Goodness!

2007-07-26T08:34:00.000-04:00

(I will update on Pip's bday and other things later, I only have a few seconds before Art class)

Don't miss my Grab Bag - July in the store at Digital Freebies You never know what you might find. Could be kits, elements, alphas, templates, quickpages, who knows???? (well my CT does, but they're sworn to secrecy LOL). Available only untl 7/30, then the contents will be revealed and at their regular prices!

Happy Birthday Piper! And other stuff too!

2007-07-17T08:29:00.000-04:00

Sigh.... my baby girl turns 2 today! YAY!! *SOB* It's one of those bittersweet moments. I am so glad that she is growing up, she is so happy, so talkative, such a joy (unless she's kicking me in the face before naptime... but I'm happy today, so mood-congruent memories and all that, she's a peach!), yet at the same time turning 2 means one year closer to school, one year closer to not wanting to cuddle any more, one year closer to not being a baby any more. NOW I understand why people have more kids. But I keep telling myself, no matter how many I have, they will ALL grow up. So I'm focusing my energy on living in the NOW with Piper, not focusing on who she was, or who she will be. But keeping my eye on that little ball of light right now.

So a big raucous HAPPY BIRTHDAY PIPER is in order! Yippeee Hooray! And what better way to celebrate my monkey-girl's birthday than with a SALE, right? LOL

Whooo hooo! Link over to DSD on the right there.

Let's see, I also have a TON of new stuff in the stores today

AND! since it was such a rousing success, I am having another brag book swap, with my latest collection Juicy.

Scrap a 6x4" 300ppi layout with any pieces or parts of my Juicy kits, delete out the photo area(s) all the way through all of the layers, so you are left with a transparent hole in the layout. Save as a png file, and email it to me at maria@marialafrancedesigns.com Deadline for submissions is July 31st!

OK, off to Gymboree with the Birthday Girl!

OMG - ROFLMAO

2007-07-14T08:40:00.001-04:00

Your results:
You are R2-D2

R2-D2		71%
Princess Leia		64%
Boba Fett		64%
Luke Skywalker		63%
Padme		63%
Yoda		61%
Obi-Wan Kenobi		60%
Qui-Gon Jinn		59%
C-3PO		58%
Darth Maul		52%

What you lack in height
and communication skills,
you make up for in industriousness,
technical know-how and being there
when others need you most.

(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)

Click here to take the Star Wars Personality Quiz

I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.... at least I wasn't Luke... or Chewie...

Last 2 days for the Fun in the Sun Brag Book Swap!

2007-07-09T13:44:00.001-04:00

Hey all there in blogland! Tomorrow (7/10) is the last day to submit a page for the Fun in the Sun bragbook swap!

I know some people have been getting emails bounced back, SORRY! The account is empty now, but if you have future trouble you can use mnlafrance AT gmail DOT com. That'll get to me too :)

We have 26 pages now! Holy Hannah! I never thought it would get this big, WHOO HOO! So get your pages in so everyone can have the bestest bragbook around!

(no idea what I am talking about... scroll down about 3 posts :) )

Have a new kit (gosh I hope I will LOL... though not if I don't stop blogging and start creating) this week, and another next week, so keep your eyes peeled! Also the next bit of Summer Fun at Maria LaFrance Designs is coming up soon, so watch the blog for more info!

Give a Cat a Mouse, my latest creation

2007-07-04T14:41:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July! (if you haven't stopped by Digital Freebies, today is the last day of the fab sale! Go grab yourself some fun stuff!)

Here's my latest creation:

Give a Cat a Mouse is available at Digital Freebies and DigiScrapDivas, on sale this week only! And in case you missed it, the companion kit, Give a Dog a Bone is also on sale at DSD this week for 30% off!

Also at Digital Freebies you can grab the coordinating Doodle Challenge kit

Get more info on the doodle kit HERE

and I have a freebie available this week only

Grab the freebie HERE

You still have another week to get your Fun in the Sun Brag Book pages in to me! Get the complete details a few posts down, deadline is July 10th. We've got 20 pages so far, this is going to be a HUGE book for all the participants!

More summer fun at Maria LaFrance Designs is coming soon! Stay Tuned!

Did you miss the coupon?

2007-06-30T22:57:00.000-04:00

The don't miss the sale at Digital Freebies! Perfect time to grab my Fun in the Sun kit and the Brag About It Templates (or anything else for that matter!)

Here's a peek at what is new-ish in my store:

Everything except the Buggy Girl Add-On is available at both Digital Freebies and DigiScrapDivas. Find the Buggy Girl Add-On at Digital Freebies!

I have a new kit debuting on Tuesday... well at least 1 new kit... I am trying hard and working feverishly to finish a second, because I really really love it!

OK, off to bed. Have a fab 4th!

Fun in the Sun Brag Book Swap!

2007-06-26T08:02:00.001-04:00

Morning Everyone! It's time to announce the first Maria LaFrance Designs Summer Fun Activity! Yayy!

We're going to have a Brag Book Swap! Since we're deep in the heat of the summer here in the US, my CT and I decided to do the first brag book swap using my Fun in the Sun Collection. There is a lot of fun stuff in this kit, some great flowers, some cool chipboard coasters, and fun gelly elements. It's a lot of ...well... Fun! Not enough in there for you? Then check out the cute add-on, and the rubons!

Here's the scoop on the swap! First purchase Fun in the Sun and/or the add-on. Scrap a 6x4" 300ppi layout using the kit. Get everything exactly the way you want it. Merge all the layers and save your layout (for yourself as a jpg). Delete out the photo layer, and save the finished product as a png. Name it yourname_FITS_bragbook. Email your png file(s) to maria@marialafrancedesigns.com. If your file is over 10mb you may have to use a file sharing website, like sendspace. Once I have everyones quickpages collected, I will zip them up and send all of the participants links to download the whole collection of pages! You scrap 1 page, you get a whole brag book full of pages back! What fun! The more participants we have, the more pages you will get, so tell your friends! Deadline for submission of pages is Tuesday July 10th.

Looking for an even faster way to scrap your brag book swap layout? Check out my Brag About It templates at Digital Freebies and DigiScrapDivas! There are 9 different 6x4" templates in psd, tif, and png+ formats for use in almost any program! Best of all, they're on sale this week, through Monday 7/2.

And just for you, my faithful blog readers, I have a coupon code for you to purchase Fun in the Sun at DigiScrapDivas for 30% off! Use the code MNL_funinthesun at checkout to get 30% off my Fun in the Sun kit at DigiScrapDivas. (code will only work at DigiScrapDivas, and only for the full size Fun in the Sun kit). Code expires June 30th, so grab it now!

If you have questions about the swap, please email me at maria@marialafrancedesigns.com

I can't wait to see your finished pages!

The brag book swap is just the tip of the iceberg for summer fun activities with Maria LaFrance Designs! Keep your eyes peeled for more announcements soon!

Melon Sorbet, my latest collection

2007-06-23T10:05:00.001-04:00

Howdy all! Just wanted to show you my latest collection Melon Sorbet

The kit is available exclusively through the Digital Freebies Club. For $5 you kit my fab kit, and Michelle Swadling's equally fab matching kit! In addition to the kit, I have an add-on and a set of quickpages too! Michelle also has an add-on and quickpages, so check those out as well! And if that weren't enough, there's a freebie at Digital Freebies as well!

Check out what my CT has done with this kit. They just rock my world on a daily basis. I love these girls!

Be sure to check out the blog on monday/tuesday for an announcement of our first Maria LaFrance Designs Summer Fun activity! You won't want to miss it! We've got some great stuff planned this summer!!

Scrapping Binge

2007-06-22T08:48:00.000-04:00

Well I know it's been a while since I posted... and a lot is going on.... but that's for another time and day. Because I just went on a scrapping binge!

I usually ossicilate between being able to design and being able to scrap. And the kits are flowing... so the layouts haven't been LOL. But over the past 2 days I scrapped like 5 layouts WHOOO HOOO!

Here are some fun ones:

Gardening. Usually when I scrap I try to stay with one kit, or at least within the same designer. But I went all out with this one. First, it's a scraplift of Trish Jones' Feet Time at DST, which is absolutely adorable. Kit credits: He'll Break Your Heart, Vibrant, Graphically Grunged, Faded Tee, Mini Alpha, and Love Sprung by Traci Reed at Scrapbook Graphics; Chicken Scratch Alpha, Daddy's Little Girl, and Ode to Cardboard: I've Been Framed by Amy Bleser at Scrapbook-Bytes; and In My Backpack Snippits, (S)tempting Flowers, and Posh Baby Cakes - Lil Miss Addition by Laura Deacetis at Sweet Shoppe. Phew!

Lately I have been on a retrodiva kit. I had been stockpiling and it was time to get scrapping! Here they are!

Just me, using retrodiva's Bohemian Love Affair at Digital Freebies. Showing off my FAB new haircut (as a result of a donation of about 12 inches to Locks of Love)

Very Blessed, featuring retrodiva and Eva Kipler's Celebrate Harmony available at retrodiva.net. Also using Jen Caputo's paper tear at SBG and Karah Fredricks' folded corner at Blue Flombingo. Showing my lovely Pipster on the day she got bit in the face by another kid at Gymboree (she's fine, no permanent damage, and the bruise is already gone).

soul mates using retrodiva's gooooooooorgeous kit All I Need (again, another Tracy kit that I need clothing made out of... yumm-o). Also using another fabulous fold by Karah Fredricks' at Blue Flombingo. (seriously I am not on Karah's CT or anything, but I have been wicked pimping these folds, they ROCK! I usually do my own, but her's are so super fast, that I am a total convert. Karah, if you ever need another CT member..... :D). Um, yeah, if you know me, you've seen that photo before... like a thousand times...

Last but not least in my retrodiva binge:

Maria 1977 & Piper 2005. Using retrodiva's Mommie and Me at Digital Freebies, Jen Caputo's paper tear at SBG, and lo and behold Karah Fredricks' folded corner at Blue Flombingo. Let me just say that I pulled my baby photo to scrap a layout with Laura Deacetis' Posh Baby Cakes - Lil Miss Addition, and then I rememberd this photo of Pip , and then I remembered the kit from Tracy, and it all came together in like 5 seconds LOL.

OK so that was my 2 day scrapping binge. I did some other fun stuff too recently. Here are some of my faves.

Almost 2. Scraplift of ChristineS. I can't believe my baby is almost 2... whaaaaa! Using Traci Reed's Vibrant and mini alpha from SBG and Atomic Cupcake's sanded action.

Easter Beauty using Laura Deacetis' Posh Baby Cakes - Lil Mister Addition, and All Laced Up Alpha at Sweet Shoppe

And one with my latest kit:

First Ponytail using Melon Sorbet Quickpages by Me! Available at Digital Freebies.

OK I'm done bragging on my layouts

So hidden in all those layouts are the fruits of our last month. I'm scrapping and creating, so that means that school is out WHOO HOO. I chopped off all my hair for a good cause and now have a fab new 'do. Piper got bit on the face in Gymboree by a boy who wanted to go through the tunnel that she was in. Very traumatic for all involved, but said boy is no longer in class with us, so it won't be an issue. Pip is fine and still loves Gymboree. And no new good photos of me and Dan, so I keep using the old standby.

On to business. My CT and I have been brainstorming some FAB new ideas, and one is ready to launch in a few days. So keep an eye out on the blog if you like contests, fun swaps, chances to win coupons, free kits, or even a guest CT spot!

Like my new header?

2007-05-08T09:30:00.000-04:00

Me too!

Laura Deacetis has come out with a set of ADORABLE blog banners, made by the most talented scrapper in the universe, Nikki Beaudreau. I LOVE these banners, they are adorable! Pick them up at the Sweet Shoppe HERE

Not too much to report. My family has just flown back home. Mom and Dad came in on Thursday and left today, my brother and his girlfriend came in LATE friday night and left monday morning. It was so great to see them all. Pip took to them like a duck to water, especially Mom and Kaylene... it's 2 days later and she's still asking for Kaylene, too cute!

Loads of new things going on at DF and DSD. DF has new challenges, new designers, and a new creative team that is being announced this week. DSD has some fab new cheerleaders who completely rock!

All is well... semester is almost over... WHOOO HOOOOOOOOO!

National Scrapbooking Day Crop at Ready-Set-Create!

2007-04-26T08:15:00.000-04:00

See the growing list of prize donations here on the Ready-Set-Create Blog

Ready-Set-Create! is an online downloadable magazine catering to paper crafters, digital artists, tradigital (hybrid) scrappers and artists, altered artists, and fiberarts.

Why does (whomever) hate me?

2007-04-15T21:48:00.000-04:00

We finally got the basement finished again, last tuesday to be exact. Walls done, gorgeous trim, new ceiling, inset lights, doors, painted, and brand spanking new carpeting.

And it's in the process of flooding right now.

This is literally $20,000 worth of work, and 9 months worth of time, and we're having this huge storm, and the water is coming in from a different area than before, and flooding it all again. (of course since the water is coming in elsewhere and it is not a failure of all of the special protective water systems we had installed, fixing it is out of pocket again, or calling in the homeowners people...again... and seeing if they will give us the money to fix it, and then up our rates... again).

Seriously. I have no idea what to do. My will to do anything about it is gone. Clearly, someone doesn't want us to ever have our basement space back. Doesn't ever want us to have the teensiest bit of money in our pockets. Doesn't ever want us to just sit back and say Ahhhhhh.

I can't even think about it, everytime I do I start bawling again. I am a complete wreck. Isn't it bad enough that I hate my job, my marriage is consistently rocky, my Mother In Law is the bane of my existence and in my face at least twice a week if not more often, isn't that enough. Can't we catch a break, just for 5 minutes?

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T08:18:00.000-04:00

Wishing everyone a wonderful day full of Easter Egg Hunts and Loads of Candy!

(created with my Buggy Girl kit available at Digital Freebies and DigiScrapDivas)

Fun Happenings this weekend!

2007-03-09T09:24:00.000-05:00

This week I have some new releases, plus I am the Spotlight Designer at DSD this week, so I have some other cool stuff going on too.. OK here's the info

Grab Buggy at Digital Freebies and DigiScrapDivas. The Buggy Add-On at Digital Freebies is in the freebies download area. Get the other add-on by posting a layout based on the sketch template I am handing out at my DSD chat tonight (March 9th) at 9PM EST. Post your layout based on the sketch by the deadline and you'll get that add-on for free!

Here's what else is going on this weekend:

So it's a perfect time to grab some of the kits I have put out recently, and some of the fun sketch packs I have available at the DSD store!

So, hope to see TONS of people at the DSD Chat room tonight at 9pm EST!!

Featured Blogger

2007-02-23T22:11:00.000-05:00

Well would you look at that! I give my bloggie a little facelift, and then I get the honor of being DSD's Featured Blogger of the Week! Hazaah! Check it out HERE

I guess then I should blog...eh?

OK so eventhough everything is still completely up in the air (and is probably not going to happen at this point) I guess I should let the cat out of the bag

Here's the long version:

Dan's company lost the account he was working on. There will be a year of transitioning everything BACK to the old way it was (Dan was the main transfer-er), and then everyone on the account has to find new jobs, either at the old place, or within his company on another account. His company will keep you paid "on the bench" for 3 months, and after that if you still don't have a position, they lay you off.

Great

So Dan immediately emailed one of his big bosses and said that he would really like a management position for the transition if there was one available. Big Boss emailed back and said he wasn't sure about that but there was this GREAT manager position that he though Dan would be perfect for on another account. The catch???

The account is in Georgia.

SO..... we would most likely have to move, if Dan gets the job. It is possible that they would settle for a move "within driving distance" to the site in case of emergency, but Dan would work remotely... in which case we would most likely be moving to North Carolina (somewhere outside of Raleigh, where there is an IBM facility that Dan would work at).... OR it is possible that they would want him on-site, in which case we would be moving to the GA/TN border where the Big BIG boss of the account lives, and Dan would drive to the GA site to work.

When we got wind of this (well over 2.5 weeks ago) we were really excited and nervous and the whole shebang. There was a possibility that he would not be required to move, in which case we were trying to decide if we WANTED to move, and get a fresh start. Somewhere with lower costs of living, less stress. Where I wouldn't HAVE to take on so many classes and could be home with Piper more, etc etc etc.

as I said... this was all almost 3 weeks ago now, and Dan hasn't heard a thing from his Big Boss. Meanwhile he has applied for a few other management positions, and some positions with old account (one in Greensborough, NC). So there still is a possibility of moving... but it certainly doesn't feel as likely as it did the day Dan told me. It's gotten to the "just let me know so I can stop thinking about it" point.

Other News:

I have been training for the last month to become an online college instructor, so that I can (hopefully) reduce my in-class classload and supplement with online courses. I really hope it works out... I think I would be a lot happier.... or at least in my car a lot less (my stoopid car... less than 3 years old and the CD player is on the fritz and has been since before christmas... it's finally being installed next weekend)

Pip is doing great, talking up a storm, adding a new word to her vocab daily, and in general running around like a maniac. She tested negative at her follow up egg test, so we have a food challenge in march!

and she's up so off I go!

It's my birthday, I'll have a sale if I want to...

2007-02-19T10:22:00.000-05:00

In honor of my 30th birthday I thought I'd share the wealth, and let you all help me celebrate!!

Use the following coupon code for 30% off of products in my store at DigiScrapDivas! (coupon is ONLY valid at DigiScrapDivas, and ONLY for my products)

Code: Marias30yay

Code is only good through today and tomorrow (2/20) so go get shopping!

You can find my products here: DigiScrapDivas

New kit and a Freebie!

2007-02-16T14:06:00.000-05:00

Hi Ya'll I promised you this little bit a few days ago, but Blogger was not being my friend

let's see if it will be my friend today...???

YAY blogger loves me today :)

Above is my latest kit! It's called New Beginnings: Baby and is a full-size kit add-on to my New Beginnings collection seen here:

You can get both of these kits in my stores at Digital Freebies and DigiScrapDivas! (and New Beginnings: Baby is on sale for 30% off through monday!)

To go along with these, I made up an adorable freebie, check it out:

You can grab it at Digital Freebies (in the forums click on the freebies link, and select Newsletter Freebies) and at DigiScrapDivas (go into the DSD Designer Announcements and Specials forum, and look for my post)

It's my birthday on monday... I'll be turning thirty... I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. No longer a twenty-something... feels a little odd... Oh Well! What are you going to do?? Can't be 29 forever... or can I?

Like my new Header???

2007-02-12T16:01:00.000-05:00

Ok, so of course I like the kits that I make, but I am in LOVE LOVE LOVE with my Always With You kit... seriously... I want to make a clothing line out of it and wrap myself in the colors. What? You haven't SEEN it yet??? Well take a gander here:

So in honor of the revamp of the bloggie, and some postings which it DESPERATELY needed, I made up a new header using my new favorite kit (which you can grab at Digital Freebies and DigiScrapDivas if you want!) And because I am feeling extra generous today, I saved the blog header as a quickpage, so pop your own photos in, add a title and use it as your blog header too! How nice am I??? (LOL)

You want it???

Grab it HERE

OK so I have an AWESOME new kit releasing tomorrow, and a huge update coming as well, so stay tuned my faithful readers, you won't want to miss the goings on here!

What kind of cookie am I?

2007-02-12T09:42:00.000-05:00

As seen on Sweet Shoppe's blog

You Are a Jam Cookie

On the outside, you project a straight-laced, innocent vibe.
But on the inside, you're complex, exotic, and full of flavor.

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Yup, that's me... serious on the outside, complex on the inside

I know I owe you all the mother-of-all updates, and I promise to do it this week. There is something a-brewing at the LaFrance household but I don't want to spill the beans until I know for sure what is going on :)

TAG!

2006-12-14T20:15:00.000-05:00

I've been TAGGED! Yippee! Thanks to Tracy for the tag!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg Nog on the warm days, hot chocolate on the cold ones (and if I'm feeling fine, it has a little Baileys in it :) )

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa wraps, definately.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? well... this would be assuming that we had actually located the tree in the Basement of Horrors at this present time... which we haven't. I believe that the loverly prelit tree we bought last year has white lights. And when we used to put lights on the house they were white as well. this year, we're far to lazy for that LOL

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope

5. When do you put up your decorations? Normally... the day after thanksgiving. This year hopefully the tree will make it up (sans ornaments... as my 17month old would have a field day with those) by Christmas day

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I remember I used to have this little porcelain basket, and on christmas eve, I would whisper my Christmas wishes into it. In the morning there would be mini candy canes in the basket. Honestly I have no idea if that's a real memory or something that I created in my head, but it's my favorite.

8. When and how did you learn that Santa isn’t real? I was young... like 4 or 5 I think... I just figured it out... I was like that...

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, my mom started that tradition and we have carried it on. We embellished though, we get new PJs on Christmas eve so that everyone has something clean, decent, and non-holey to wear for photos in the morning :)

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Maybe if we had a “how-to” it wouldn’t be such a mess…

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I have a love hate relationship with snow. If it's gonna be cold, it might as well be snowing. But I hate having class cancelled because of snow because it puts me behind and I have to scramble to catch up... but on the day, I am excited for a cancellation :)

12. Can you ice skate? nope not at all. the last time I tried was in college and I had shin splints for 3 months afterwards

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? photoshop CS, where would I be today without it???

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family, food, funky christmas songs, like Harry Connick and SheDaisy and Everclear's Santa Baby

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? pumpkin pie for thanksgiving is a must, don't really have a MUST dessert for christmas, I love a lot of the cookies my mom makes!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? hmmmm.... not sure... When I was a kid I loved that we got to dive into the stockings first thing. I was always up at the crack of dawn and waiting for my dad to get up... 5 hours later... was like TORTURE. But there was always something fun in the stocking to keep me busy. And an apple...an old tradition from my mom's family. Since we're a "new" family, we don't have a whole lot of tradtions yet... we're still carving out our Christmas niche

I'll tag Traci, Nikki, and Laura cuz your bloggies need some lovin girlies!!

The babe walks

2006-12-03T09:18:00.000-05:00

Not all the time.... but sometimes she does it on her own!

long week please end...

2006-11-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

ugh... I am exhausted... I should be as smart as my husband... he's sleeping on the couch... but not me... I'm blogging

This has been a really long week... even though nothing really has happened. I guess spending all day yesterday CONVINCED that is was Thursday, made today (actually thursday) seem like it lasted FOREVER.

Piper is *walking*. She's not totally walking all the time, but she is making lots of little walks between objects without holding on. She oscillated today from happy and giggling, to pitching complete hissy fits for absolutely no reason. And seeing as how this day actually started yesterday morning, it made it even longer.

She has started a new game of hide and seek. She runs away (or speed crawl/scoots away rather) and hides behind the kitchen island, the dresser in our room, or the nook between the front door and the coat closet, and giggles until you "find" her. Of course I know exactly where she is and just keep saying Piiiiiiper, where aaaaaare yoooooooou? until she can't take it any more and peeks around wherever she is hiding. Really, it's the cutest thing in the UNIVERSE... but after 3 hours I'm like OMG ENOUGH child. I get it, you're hidden, can we watch The Backyardigans and eat sorbet now, PLEEEEEEEEASE??? Really though, as exhausted and sleep deprived as I am right now, I wouldn't give up one second of the day that I get to spend with her. She is so much fun.

She likes to sing Row row row your boat now too... she looks up and goes whoa whoa, and then I am supposed to sing it. sometimes she sings with me : whoa whoa whoa whoa (skip gently down the stream part) mimi mimi mimi mimi (skip life is but a dream part); and she always claps when I finish the verse, and then looks up and says whoa whoa for me to start again. TOO STINKIN' CUTE! I am trying to teach her signs for eat and drink, to attempt to distinguish from milk, which she seems to sign when she wants to nurse, and when she wants to drink from a cup. And we're working on the hand motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider.

The doctor wants me to Ferberize her... I know so many people swear by it... but I just can't do it. I'm not capable of listening to her cry it out... I just can't do it. I may be losing my mind from sleep deprivation, but I will completely lose my sanity if I have to hear her screaming for me and not being able to go get her. I KNOW that I would not be strong enough to last it out, and therefore know that I shouldn't even try. Because if I cave, it just makes it worse. I mean honestly... is it REALLY so bad that she sleeps with us at night? She's a teeny little girl. I (almost 30 year old woman...) can't STAND to sleep alone... if Dan isn't home I get all creeped out... is it fair to make my 15 month old daughter do it? I think not. So I'll be a happy granola mom, with my baby in my bed, and bags the size of LL Bean Boat Totes under my eyes, but I'll be happy... well as happy as I can be on 3 hours sleep.

Last weekend I was convinced that I was PG. I was having phantom kicks constantly... and knowing my inability to take the pill exactly on time every day, I knew there was a possiblity. DH and I have decided that barring any accidents, Piper will be an only child. It's what's best for our family. So I took the PG test and it was negative. At first I was ok with it, it's what we wanted... right??? And then I was crushed. I kept thinking of the baby that I would never hold. The little face I would never kiss. The little toes I would never eat... it sucked... alot. My head KNOWS that we should only have 1, time, money, attention, sleep, sanity, they all vote for 1 kid. But the rest of me seems to disagree. So I guess I am going to have to live vicariously through Matt and his wife, she wants to have a litter.

Alright, I guess I should do something constructive before I go to bed... like polish off a big bowl of icecream.

Update-o-rama

2006-11-02T09:32:00.000-05:00

Well I am finally getting around to updating the blog... note the new slide show with recent layouts, yippee! Maybe I'll make a new header too... since those photos are from last JANUARY, EEEK!

Pipster - signs milk, is so close to walking I can taste it (she has taken a bunch of steps from about a foot away from you to you, but that's it), has 2 molars almost completely in and 2 about halfway in, says dada, mama, mimi (which sometimes means mommy, and other times means other things LOL), da (duck or Dora or Diego, depending on the situation), dat (what's that?), meow, woof woof, Elmo, ella (elephant), and makes the elephant trumpet noise, she sings several songs like the lalalalalala's in Sing from sesame street, row row row, Elmo's world, a couple of the Noggin songs... mostly she just makes noise in the appropriate rhythm LOL. At Gymboree she is the resident thief, constantly swiping toys from other kids... my little bully :)

Dan - still needs good thoughts for a new job. Hopefully something will come up soon. Got glasses... OMG does he ever look handsome... I mean he was always handsome, but there is something about those glasses... yum!

Maria - finished a new kit Primitive Halloween at Digital Freebies

I converted one of my intro psych students, she was a communications major and is switching to psychology because of my class... I love that! I just re-read the DaVinci Code... gosh I loved that book. I think I am going to have to re-read all of the Dan Brown books now, I really enjoyed re-reading that one. One that note, we got a new GORGEOUS Borders in the mall...drool drool... that's BAD NEWS for my checking account LOL... I looooooooove Borders, and the nearest one was 35 min away... now I have one 15 min away... uh oh! Next on my book list is Jennifer Weiner's In Her Shoes. I had been avoiding reading it because I felt that since they made a movie out of it, it might be too "commercial" ...then Dan suggested that maybe they made a movie out of it because it was her best one... so I'm gonna give it a shot.

Max - is really smelly

House - garage is almost done (wait, didn't I say that over a month ago LOL). it is all wired, but there aren't any switches, so we still don't have lights, but the garage door is in and the opener works! The basement flooded...again... luckily they hadn't done anything except demolition, soooo we have to get a battery backup system for our sump pump, because the power was out, which is why it flooded. The guys haven't been here this week yet, but Todd just pulled up so I guess they are doing something today LOL.

I think that's most of the stories as of late. Piper (as you can see below) was a purple fairy for halloween... unfortunately ALL of my photos came out blurry, so I have to re-dress her up this weekend and take some more photos with my good camera.

Quick post to test something out :)

2006-11-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

if this works... it's a video of Piper making animal sounds in her halloween costume

Crocs Rule Mega Charity Kit and Crops this weekend at DigiShopTalk

2006-09-28T21:03:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! The designers at Digital Freebies have been hard at work this past week getting together:

This mega kit was put together in memory of the late Steve Irwin, and all of the wonderful animal conservation work he has done. Proceeds all go to Steve's charity Wildlife Warriors, for the conservation and preservation of animals.

We are kicking off the release of the kit with 3 crops on Saturday and Sunday at DigiShopTalk!

Crocs Rule Midday Crop Saturday 9/30 at noon EST at DigitShopTalk hosted by Maria LaFrance and Tracy Collins of Digital Freebies

Crocs Rule Evening Crop Saturday 9/30 at 9PM EST at DigiShopTalk hosted by Heather Heinzer and EvaK of Digital Freebies

Crocs Rule Aussie Crop Sunday (10/1) 1am EST at DigiShopTalk hosted by Bannerwoman and dedicated2digital of Digital Freebies

Come by the DigiShopTalk chat room for fun, freebies, and prizes, and support the Digital Freebies Designers in remembering the life and work of Steve Irwin. Let's chat, play some games, get some inspiration, have some fun, and support a worthy charity, Wildlife Warriors!

Croc's Rule: Charity Kit for Wildlife Warriors in Memory of Steve Irwin is on sale at Digital Freebies now CLICK HERE You can read more about Wildlife Warriors here: http://www.wildlifewarriors.org.au/

Hope to see you on Saturday or Sunday! The chatroom at DigiShopTalk is located here: http://www.digishoptalk.com/chat.html

my poor neglected blog... and TAG

2006-09-28T10:10:00.000-04:00

OK, so I realized that it has been almost a FULL MONTH since I have posted... so much for my original attempt at weekly, eh? Real-life work really takes it out of me... and my boss is "pressuring" me to apply for the full time position... AGAIN. I have told her numerous times that I can't do it, and still she keeps asking.

I just found out today that I don't have class on monday because of Yom Kippur, too bad I had class scheduled for that day, and am already half a class period behind, ARGH.

Construction on the house is progressing... the garage is almost done, just needs a door, electricity, and some drywall against the house. Siding, roof, and gutters are done. Now just the basement remains. It has been demolished (almost all the way) and once we get everything cleared out, they'll start rebuilding it.

Piper went to the doc yesterday for a follow-up blood test for her hemoglobin count. It came up 1 point from the last test, and the doc said that was a "textbook" reaction to increased iron, and exactly what they wanted to see. So we keep on with the iron for another month, and then just switch to an iron supplemented vitamin. She's getting her molars still... 2 of them popped through 2 nights ago, and are working their way up. She's not walking yet, but is definately getting close. New words in the vocab include "uhsat" (what's that), "meh" (Max, the dog), and I'm fairly certain she said elephant the other day.

On the digi scrapping front I am having an album sale through Oct 1st, all albums 40% off, it's a good time to grab them. My AWESOME CT has been rockin the galleries with some album layouts, so be sure to check them out! My CT also has 2 new members: Claudia (mnm_y2) and Amanda (Amanda_Miller) have joined our ranks! YAY! Digital Freebies has 2 BIG surprises coming out by next tuesday... one should be released today, and the other debuts on Tuesday, so watch for those newsletters, it's gonna be BIG!

OK and my good friend Eva has tagged me so I'll play along

7 songs I'm into right now
OK, so this is probably going to be pretty lame, since my "music" lately consists almost entirely of Laurie Berkner and Sesame Street...so while usually I'm up on the new and hip... not so much at the moment LOL

Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved
Kelly Clarkson - Because of U
Black Eyed Peas - Pump it Up
Rob Thomas - (I can't pick any one song, the WHOLE ALBUM is amazing) Something To Be
Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles - Who Says you can't go home
Hoobastank - The Reason
and I'm SURE if I heard it I'd love Justin Timberlake - Sexyback

OK that's as good as I can do LOL

Not sure who to tag.. will blog-surf and see if anyone hasn't answered this yet LOL

TAG!

2006-08-29T14:20:00.000-04:00

Gina tagged me a while ago, and I just remembered that I had better do it before she starts nagging LOL JUST KIDDING GINA :)

List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Dont forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog!

Only 5... I guess then you'll only know slightly how weird I am

I can't have milk and water in the same glass, this includes ice cubes in milk, milk poured into a previously used water glass, and especially water poured into a previous milk glass...ICK!

When I make PB&J, the PB and J go on the same slice of bread which is folded in half top to bottom, not left to right

I like mayo on the cheese side of my sandwich, not the meat side

9 times out of 10 if I am wearing socks, they are patterned... and usually the pattern is Christmas of some sort, no matter what time of year

Well, it may not be weird, but I don't sort laundry, other than separating out the towels. I wash everything together on cold. I wash the towels separately on hot. I never had enough "whites" to make a full load, so I stopped trying!

And why not, some weird things about my pets... since i have 2 I'll split them up

Max: when he eats his food he'll take a few bites, and then walk around the room, a few more bites, and walk...etc.

he likes to be brushed, but he LOVES to be dried off with a towel, he gets all excited and runs around in circles under the towel

He is afraid to walk over the floor register in the hallway, he stays really close to the opposite wall and walks really fast past it.

When he was a puppy he was afraid to walk up the stairs... he'd go DOWN the stairs, and then be too afraid to go back up... Dan would carry him upstairs. Eventually I had to bribe him with treats to teach him about the stairs.

and my fish... Orange Fish....was genetically created in a lab, and is super highly controversial... of course Dan didn't know that when he bought her, she was just a cool Orange Fish!

I tag: Claudia, Nikki, Amy Bleser, Meg, and Sherri. Let's see what weirdness you guys have :)

updates... where are the updates????

2006-08-24T09:57:00.000-04:00

OK, so I realize I left you all hanging for a while there... I feel like a chicken with my head cut off... running around in pointless circles...

Piper:
>Is not allergic to garbanzo beans... freak coincidence I guess, but her allery test was negative
>Stands on her own, without using anything to pull up. She's thinking about walking, but hasn't quite gotten that figured out yet
>Says mama, for both me and Dan (well sometimes she calls Dan Elmo...), woof woof for dogs, and meow for things that look like cats, including lions and pigs, but not including tigers... go figure
>Drinks out of sippy cups with straws... no more fighting her to get her to tip it up high enough to drink...
>Is capable of feeding herself with a spoon, but will only do it for a few scoops before she starts playing in it
Layout:

Dan
>Has applied for a few new jobs, and is waiting to hear, meanwhile another member of the team he is on quit... leaving 3 people doing the work of 6
>Drives me completely batty, but is the World's Best Husband
>Cleaned out the fridge for me today YIPEE

Maria
>Did not get the part time job
>Goes back to teaching on monday (BLAH)
>Entered Simple Scrapbooks 20 Digital Divas (or whatever it's called), fingers crossed
>New Kit: Tiger Lily at Digital Freebies

House
>Roof is done
>Siding is for the most part done, they have to replace the soffets and gutters and then will put the top most layer of siding on
>Garage construction has begun... garage is A)right up against the house... we were supposed to have a "mud room" of sorts, B) a LOT smaller than anticipated, and C) not at ALL lined up with the driveway. But I guess that's what happens when you need to be under a certain amount of money
>Basement will not be started until the garage is finished, so that we can put all the crap from the basement in the garage

Other Things
>ScrapMommies is no more... some JERK decided to hack it yet again, and Traci decided not to build it again. I can't blame her at all, I can't even begin to imagine the stress that must put on you to have to keep rebuilding the site that some idiot has decided is his personal playground. I will definately miss it. It was definately my home...
>My kits will be moved to Digital Freebies, and I will remain exclusive there
> Creative Team! How awful that they have been working with me for like 2 months and I haven't announced it yet! They are : Tanya (TiggerRD, SavvyMommy), Phuong (vietnamgrl), Stacey (slkone), and Leslie (serenasmom), and I am the luckiest designer in the world to have 4 such awesome-ly talented ladies working with my kits

OK I think that's it... in a nutshell LOL

here we go again

2006-08-01T22:13:00.000-04:00

Monday night, exactly 1.5 hours after dinner, and Piper has hives. The only new thing, garbanzo beans (chick peas...whatever). True... it could be a miraculous coincidence...it could be related to the vaccines she had 2 weeks ago... the doctor said she could have a reaction upto 2 weeks later... but come on... in perfect timing with eating dinner??? Somehow I think not. So it looks like we have another food allergy on our hands. Definately wasn't prepared for this one...was prepared for growing out of the egg allergy in a few months... was not prepared for adding an additional allergy to the mix. Unfortunately garbanzo beans are in the same food family (and likely to have cross allergic reactions) with peanuts, black eyed peas, soy beans, and other legumes... Have you ever read the labels on food? EVERYTHING has soy in it. Everything. I have currently made the assumption that she does not have a cross allergy to soy, since the oatmeal she's been eating since day 1 has soy oil in it.... but that's just an assumption.

The allergist should call this week with the egg allergy blood test results (what torture that was...she was hoarse from screaming so much; I felt like Mother of the Year again when the bruises from the lab tech holding her arm appeared), and will ask him if he wants us to come in for garbanzo bean testing. Really there's no real point at this point. We have the epi pen, the only "solution" if she is allergic is to not give her garbanzo beans... which I think I can do without the hour long doc appt and the $35 copay.

Another note... please keep us in your thoughts... Dan might be losing his job. Not through any fault of his own of course. The short story:
Dan was IT at Lincoln. Lincoln outsourced it's IT to IBM. Dan is IT at IBM for Lincoln. Lincoln merges with JP. JP hates IBM. Lincoln doesn't renew contract with IBM. Therefore, Dan will (most likely) not work for Lincoln any more. Not a big deal... IBM will find him another position... until... all IT in the US (for the most part) is being outsourced to India, because they can pay 5 people in India the same amount they pay 1 tech in the US (the same way all our manufacturing was lost to China, etc.). So most companies are going that route. Which means within the next 5 years or so, Dan's out of a job. Period. Not a very positive prospect.

Which means, in a few years... I am definately going to have to get a full time teaching position, so that Dan can train for a new job. Nothing like being on track for a good paying job, and having it swiped out from under you...I feel really bad for all the US IT workers at the moment... since most companies are jumping on this bandwagon. Some companies have come back to using US employees after getting hundreds of thousands of complaints from customers re: their tech help not speaking english... but that's only some companies.

OK off my soap box LOL

If you haven't seen it yet, the new ScrapMommies Designers Mega Kit is out, called Surf's Up, and it's AMAZING

Nothing new from me recently... working working working

As Karen so diligently reminded me in chat the other day, summer is almost over, my classes start back on Aug 28th. Oh and it looks like I didn't get the half-time job I applied for. Technically I haven't heard NO yet, but I also didn't get invited to interview last week, when they were theoretically interviewing people. Too bad... we could have used the money, that's for sure.

Sorry to be a downer... just been a rough 24 hours...

Piper news and scrappy shopping

2006-07-30T19:52:00.000-04:00

Let's start with the Piper stuff first...

Today Piper

*Figured out the Shape Sorter Toy
*Said Dada, and seems to have meant it
*Started a new babble: nya nya (LOL)
*Stood up in the middle of her play pen without pulling herself up (since her hands were full with Elmo and Grover)
*Kinda sorta almost said Mama... but it might have been a nya nya that I misunderstood

Recently she has also started meow-ing... too stinking cute. Of couse she learned this skill from Jack's Big Music Show on Noggin. There is an episode in which Mel the Dog thinks he's a cat, and meows the whole episode. At one point, Jack tries to teach Mel how to ruff, and it goes something like this: Ruff, Meow, Ruff, Meow, Ruff, Meow... you get the point. Piper has been barking at dogs since around her birthday, and now meowing when seeing a cat is new. BUT she also meows when you say ruff ruff ruff. So that's the new thing around our house... ruff ruff ruff, meooow

And I went scrappy shopping today. ScrapArtist is having a big 'ole birthday sale, and I couldn't resist. I got their joint kit with Denise Docherty, my idol, called Express Yourself, Michelle's kit Clair de Lune, Michelle's Acrylic Paint Brush Strokes, Nancie's Schmootzy Alphas (thanks to Gina who has been using them alot recently), Michelle's Distressed Alphas, and Nancie's Bella Stamps. FUN STUFF! Now to have time to play...

On the kit front, I am working on a few... One for Tanya's darlings' birthday, some sort of summer thing, and probably something else that I have forgotten in the meantime.

The worker bees have about a quarter of the roof shingled... and tarps over the rest.. they had to stop early on Friday as the sky opened up and poured buckets in a matter of seconds. A majority of my Tupperware is in the attic catching leaks. They were supposed to return Saturday and work half day, but no dice (no surprise)

That's all from CT today :)

and so it begins...

2006-07-26T12:47:00.000-04:00

Almost 3 full months from when they were supposed to start, and 11 days after they were supposed to be finished, the contractors have begun work on the house remodel. Todd showed up at 10 am, dumpster in hand, to start tearing off the roof. Of course I had long since given up hope of seeing them, and so I was still in my pajamas (read: tank top, and neon green pajama pants that say Cheeky Monkey all over them) when he knocked on the door. Hair and teeth unbrushed... you know, BEAUTIFUL! He took one look at me and said, "I'm sorry I should have called" Bwaaaahahahahahahahahaha!

So we are on our way to a new house! well, kind of... a new roof, new siding, new garage and new basement! Whoo hooo!

I'm it!

2006-07-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

Traci tagged me, so here goes!

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
no

2. Do you close your eyes on a roller coaster?
no, eyes wide open... and hand firmly gripping the shoulder harness

3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
I haven't the slightest idea it's been so long ago

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
with Dan and Piper... but on a BIGGER bed!!!

5. Do you believe in ghosts?
yes

6. Do you consider yourself creative?
I think so

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
without a doubt

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie? (silly, I know ... but very "now")
Jennifer... though I am still an Angelina fan, Jennifer is my fave

9. Can you honestly say you know ANYTHING about politics?
nope not a gosh darn thing

10. Do you know how to play poker?
I think so... hmmm, maybe I shouldn't play then LOL

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
possibly... I was awake a LONG time when Pip was born... but it's too much math for me to figure out how long

12. What's your favorite commercial?
hmmm... I loved one recently... last years Super Bowl, there's a guy in the kitchen and he knocks over some salsa or something... I don't remember, but the end result is him holding a cat and a butcher knife, with something that looks like blood on the floor... hysterical commercial

13. Who was your first love?
Andy Keating, 5th grade

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around you, do you run a red light?
depends on the light... if it's been red forever, yes

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
absolutely... and no I'm not telling

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
neither (how sad is that... I live in New England), I am a born and bred Chicago White Sox fan

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
Yes... and I will never go again

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
almost always

19. What's the one thing on your mind?
Piper, scrapbooking, Piper, school, Piper, Dan... that is my constant rotation

20. Do you always wear your seat belt?
Yes.

21. What talent do you wish you had?
paint or draw, or do pottery... something creative. Or is self-esteem a talent? I wish I had some of that LOL

22. Do you like Sushi?
only the non-raw kind

23. What do you wear to bed?
tank top

24. Do you truly hate anyone?
No... though my MIL comes close on some days

25. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
only one... no fair. Let's see, my man du jour would be Vin Diesel...today... tomorrow Harrison Ford, the next day Jonny Depp... we could be here for hours

26. Do you know anyone in jail?
I hope not... though I wouldn't be surprized if I did

27. What food do you find disgusting?
okra

28. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
Probably, but not in a malicious way

29. Have you ever been punched in the face?
no

30. Do you believe in angels and demons?
Yes

Fun stuff Traci, thanks!

I tag Nikki and Laura

scrappy stuff

2006-07-22T08:39:00.000-04:00

after the book I wrote thursday about the weekend... I didn't feel like talking about scrappy stuff... but now I do, so here goes:

All my kits are on sale at Digital Freebies and ScrapMommies until Sunday for 40% off including my 2 newest kits

I also have the Friday Freebie this week, that coordinates with the new Birthday Girl kit both at Digital Freebies! Here's the freebie you can get:

You can get it here

We're putting the finishing touches on the next ScrapMommies designer Mega kit, and I have to tell you it is TOO adorable! Personally I can't wait to get it! Here's a teaser:

August 1st is when it will hit the store, so make sure you come check it out!

And you can always get free kits from me by participating in my challenges and crops.

Check out my Weekly Challenge at Digital Freebies, and come hang out with Sherri and I Wednesdays at 3pm EST for the SAHM chat at ScrapMommies

Alright, that's enough self-promotion for the day...

what a week it has been

2006-07-19T08:35:00.000-04:00

(it's funny, I know everyone is waiting for the updates, but I have had so much trouble writing this post....guess it's all too fresh and still bugging me)

Not that I didn't LOVE everything that happened last week, but boy am I glad it's over. Mom came out on tuesday, we bought a swingset on wednesday, dad came out on thursday, Dan did the best man "run errands with Matt all day" on friday, the wedding was saturday, Piper's birthday party on sunday, dad left on monday, and mom went home tuesday (yesterday). Phew

Now to elaborate

We chose one of the nice wooden swingsets with a "fort" on top, the sandbox underneath, a slide, monkey bars, and 3 swing stations. It took Dan and my parents 3 solid days to put it together...in 90+ degree heat. I was almost positive one of them wasn't going to survive the ordeal... either from another one killing them, or because of the heat. But it was mostly done for Piper's party, and the kids got to swing a bit. Piper, of course LOVES it. Here's my happy monkey on her swing

The wedding was nice. It was HOT as predicted...probably around 90 in the church, and I trying to be polite and rule-following was wearing a cardigan so as to not show my shoulders in church. Plus wrestling with the monkey, OMG I thought I was going to DIE! Then about 5 min before the ceremony is supposed to start, Dan walks out and hands me Matt's camera, and says Matt wants you to take some pictures. Um, excuse me... you choose the 1 person with a year old baby in the church who is going to have to keep her confined and un-fussy, and you give HER the camera???!!!??? SO I can best hold Piper with my right arm, but cameras have the shutter on the right side... SO I held the camera upside down so that I could take pictures with the left hand and juggle Piper with the right. And somehow in the middle of all of it I managed to SWITCH cameras and take some photos with mine. Of course I brought my small maneuverable POS Sony, instead of my large cumbersome takes-the-greatest-photos-ever Cannon, so my pictures came out awful, but at least I got some. Here's Matt and Erica...

No the WHOLE reason I brought Piper to the wedding at ALL was I assumed they wanted FAMILY photos. Since Pip was only going to be at the church (and all wedding party members knew this) I assumed they would take them after the ceremony. Nope. I was finally involved in a photo midway through the reception. SO Other than everyone getting to see her for an hour, and her "being present" at the ceremony (which she will of course have no memory of, and we have no record of as there were no photos) there was really no point in my bringing her... oh well!

Then sunday was Piper's big birthday party. I made her a cake. Of course. Seeing as that has been my primary focus for like 2 months now. I found a normal cake recipe that had a substitution for eggs, and it actually tasted like CAKE! Can you believe it??? I, of course, knowing my daughter's fascination with Elmo, made an Elmo cake. See:

So the party starts, and MIL is being a beast already. Come to find out later, she was jealous that my parents got to see Piper for 5 days straight. Um, helloooo, my parents haven't seen Piper in five and a half MONTHS, you see her twice a month at a minimum, and spent 3 months seeing her twice a WEEK! I think you're even! The only response I have to this behavior is OK, you want to see her 5 days straight, that's fine, but then you only get to see her twice a year, just like my parents. DONE, THE END, ALL FIXED. Yeah right, she'd probably go postal and stab me with an antique letter opener or something. I can't stand that she is so obsessed with Piper. It really makes me crazy.

All in all, seeing as it was almost 100 degrees outside, Dan popped the kiddie pool 5 min before everyone arrived, Amber wouldn't stop teasing the dog in his crate, so we let him out and she FREAKED and SCREAMED at the top of her lungs as if he were attacking her, Holly (MIL) pouted the whole time and didn't say a WORD to my family, and Piper didn't eat a SINGLE CRUMB of her cake, the birthday party went well, and a nice time was had by all. And as soon as blogger starts cooperating again, below you will find a picture of my birthday girl! I can't believe how grown up she looks!

Dad went home, I cried. Mom went home, I cried more. And here we are, a week later, and I am STILL exhausted.

I GIVE UP!

2006-07-12T20:45:00.000-04:00

OK I've hit a wall, and I am just at a loss. I tried an egg-free, dairy free cake mix the other day and it was so-so. They made it with malted barley flour and you could definately taste the "malt". Today I made a cake that was in the what to expect book, and used one of the substitutes for eggs that the doc gave me, and it came out very chewy, sticky, etc. not fluffy like a cake... I gave pip a tiny piece and she gagged on it and threw up (not from allergy reaction, but because it was sticky). I swear I'm feeling like "mommy of the year" over here, just for trying to do the right thing. I introduce her to eggs so I can make her a cake and she breaks out in hives, I make her an egg-less cake and she vomits... I'm about to lose it. I am so sad. I fell like nothing that I try to do is right. And every time I try something and it doesn't work, I get a look from Dan like I shouldn't have tried it in the first place and what the !@#$% was I thinking...I'm starting to feel like I shouldn't have done any of this, made her a plain old cake for her birthday, and since it would have been her first exposure to everything, she wouldn't have had any allergic reaction (can't have a reaction until the 2nd time you are exposed). I know it probably seems like a stupid thing to be upset about but I just feel so awful. I feel awful for putting her through all of this, just so she can have cake on her birthday...just so she can be like every other kid who has a photo of their first birthday cake, with icing in their hair, and cake all over their face. But then I try to be the good mom, and make it a healthy cake, with no sugar, sweetend with fruit juice, made with whole wheat flour, etc etc. and instead I make her throw up.

I GIVE UP! Nothing that I do will be right. If I don't have a cake, the whole family will be "Why doesn't she have a cake" and if I make her a cake (without eggs) Dan will be flipping out the whole time, is she ok, is she going to puke, where's the epi pen...

Is it wrong for me to want a normal birthday for her with cake and ice cream and balloons... even though she's not supposed to have sugar or plain flour, or balloons? I know that what has happened with her allergy is not my fault, but I still completly blame myself. It's my fault because I introduced the eggs, it's my fault she threw up because I gave her the cake, it's all my fault.

Back from the doctors...

2006-07-08T15:12:00.000-04:00

We are back from the allergist's. Really really nice guy (though he was male so Piper didn't like him much). He did the prick test, to determine Piper's allergy. He actually did it to me first, to show me that it doesn't hurt (nice guy!), and it didn't. Then he gave Piper the egg prick, and 2 controls. And the egg prick didn't react. He said that the egg protein test solution is diluted 50:1. So he got an egg, swished the pricky thing around in the white, and pricked her with that, and voila, BIG hive. SO she is allergic to eggs, but he said her number of IgE's is probably really low, meaning that it's not a terribly severe allergy. He's sending her for a blood test to get an IgE count to confirm. The basics of his conversation was avoid eggs, but don't panic if she gets ahold of something with eggs. He gave us an epi pen just in case, and said that he can't COMPLETELY predict that she will grow out of it, but he's almost positive that she will grow out of it. We're to get the blood test soon, which he will call us with the results from, and then see him again in 6 months for another prick test (at which he said he would be genuinely surprised if she reacted to, he expects her to grow out of it by then).

So that's my story. No eggs for a while, but she'll most likely grow out of it.

Did you know...

There was recently a legislation passed requiring manufacturers to use "plain english" on their ingrediants labels. For example, albumin, listed on the ingrediants label actually means that the product contains eggs! This legislation makes the manufacturer write eggs instead of albumin (and several other "jargon" words that manufacturers use for eggs and milk, etc.)! It went into effect Jan 06, and they expect it will take 1 year for all manufacturers to make the complete transition. So as of January it won't be a mystery anymore! Until then, I have a card to carry in my purse with all the "secret" words for egg containing products. I feel like I was newly initiated into a club LOL.

Newsworthy News

2006-07-07T11:47:00.000-04:00

Good (almost) afternoon blog-readers!

It's been a while since I blogged... sorry... been a bit busy lately, though not really sure with what!

I have 2 new kits up at Digital Freebies: Under the Sea, and Aloha. Aloha has been in the works for a while, and I finally got into a grove and got it done. Under the Sea came out of necessity, we needed a Freebie for the Doodle Challenge, and I volunteered. I think that is the fastest I have ever finished a kit. I started it on the 27th of June, and it went active on the 4th of July. The free add-on, with doodles is available in the forums, and the full kit is in the boutique!

AND

I have signed on to be a designer at ScrapMommies! My first kit is up there right now called Fun in the Sun. It was a June challenge prize kit, but just in case anyone missed it, it's now in the store.

I will have exclusive kits in each store (DF kits only available at DF, SM kits only available at ScrapMommies). Look for Spring Flowers coming to ScrapMommies, and Birthday Girl coming to Digital Freebies!

AND

I am assembling a creative team! Since neither the DF or SM CTs have the time to work with every designer's new kits, I have "hired" a CT just for my stuff. I really didn't want to have a formal call... the idea of sending rejection letters was FAR beyond my comfort zone. So I contacted a few people who seemed interested in creative team work, weren't on a bunch already, and I liked their style, and there you have it. If I didn't contact you and you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to be on MY creative team, pop me a note! I was going for a small team. I have 3 so far, and 1 more PM out, so once I hear back from everyone I'll make the big announcement!

OK enough with the scrappy stuff...I know why you're really here... Pip talk! (kinda like a pep talk, but a little different LOL)

On wednesday we discovered that Piper is allergic to eggs. It all started about 3 weeks ago, when I realized that every recipe (that sounded good) for birthday cake that I had, contained eggs. So I started introducing Piper to eggs. First just scrambled yolks, over the course of a week, she had them 3 times. She had no reaction, and she LOVED them. Last week I started mixing in the egg white. On sunday she had egg whites for the second time. Then Dan and I took her for a walk. It was HUMID but not all that hot. All the same by the time we got back, I was WAY overheated. I gave Piper a bath, put her down for a nap, and took and ice cold shower. When Piper got up, she had a rash under her chin, on her neck, and on her chest, directly under her chin. The rash on her chest looked like a print of her chin it was so perfectly matched. Since she spends most of her time with her chin on her chest looking at books or toys, etc., we assumed that it was heat rash. We wiped it with a cool damp cloth, cooled down the house, and the rash went away. On wednesday I gave her egg whites for the 3rd time at 9 am. We were playing for a while, and then I put her in the play pen to play while I did general clean up, dishes, laundry, etc. etc. I picked her up at 10:30 to give her a bath before her nap, and her cheeks were covered in hives. Oh boy. I took off her shirt, and her back and neck and armpits had hives. I took off her pants and there were some random hives on her legs. She had had something that had looked similar before, after crawling on my MILs bed during a diaper change, that had been alleviated after a bath. So I went on with my plan to give her a bath to see if that helped, if it didn't it was probably the eggs. Nope bath didn't help. Called Dan, called the doctor, and we were in the office by 11:30. The doctor asked all the typical doctor questions, have you changed detergent, soap, etc etc. Which of course was a big no all around, the only new thing was Day 3 of Egg Whites. So we have a tentative diagnosis of an egg allergy, and an appointment tomorrow with the allergist.

I know it's probably going to sound selfish, or non-PC or something, but I am so...dissappointed?? Is that the word? I wanted her to be perfect, to have nothing wrong, to have nothing that she ever had to worry about. To never have to worry about going to someone elses house and saying, Oh What's in that because I can't have X, Y, and Z. But now we're reading labels. Luckily, she's really only still eating baby food and fruits/vegetables so it's not a huge issue. But all the recipes recommended in "What to Expect" with the exception of a very select few contain eggs. They say (whoever they are) that most babies grow out of an egg allergy by the age of 3. So really only 2 years... but, for the next 2 years, I have to bring my own cake to birthday parties, bring my own bread to picnics, etc. And I know and egg allergy is nothing in comparison to what COULD be wrong with her... anywho, we'll see what the doctor has to say tomorrow. Alrighty, that's enough out of me... I'll leave you with a Pip pic :) This was taken on July 4th. Look at all those TEETH!

The Tale of the Invisible Layouts

2006-06-17T17:18:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you...but I am a praise JUNKIE. I LOVE to get comments on my layouts in the galleries. If the "My Photos" button actually existed in the real world, mine would have the letters worn off by now.

In the past week or so, I have created 7 new layouts... but I can't post them in the gallery! They are for the e-zine that I write for Ready-Set-Create, so they can't be posted to online galleries until after the issue comes out (which in this case, is August). Talk about delay of gratification! Jennifer, the owner and editor, always tells me how fab they are when I send them in... but it's just not the same. And the worst part of it is, by the time I CAN post them in the galleries, I forget that I have made them, and they STILL go unposted and unpraised. They are my invisible layouts.

So here's what I need you to do...go buy a subscription to Ready-Set-Create... it's like $2 an issue, and then email me and tell me how wonderful all my layouts are! LOL, just kidding! But seriously, grab a copy of the mag, it ROCKS and is FULL of digital, traditional, and Jen-coined tra-digital scrapbooking, plus recipes, and lots of other stuff. And if you get the June/July issue...I made that cover...WHOO HOOO! Go me!

and let me just add a men...ugh... just because.

I can spill!

2006-06-07T12:18:00.000-04:00

OK I gave you a sneak peek a while back of....

My kit for the Digital Freebies Club this month! YAY!! Whoo hooo! hoooray!

Here it is, called Fruit Smoothie

I did a layout using it of my "nephew" Radek...he's just the cutest little thing...

It's raining...again... I swear if this rain doesn't stop the contractor will NEVER start on my house...and then he'll NEVER be finished!! ARGH!

That's all I have to say for today! Go make some comments on layouts, and make someone's day brighter!!!

Where I’ve come from… or why I don’t paper scrap any more

2006-06-02T19:09:00.000-04:00

I had to post a layout at scrapbook.com that I did using one of Jeanine Baechtold’s kits (called Softly Summer, available at www.computerscrapbook.com), and I had one other layout in my gallery there...it was one of the only paper scrapping layouts I had ever fininshed... and OMG it's AWFUL! Funny thing is the reason it's there is because I had entered it into a contest (gasp), I didn't win...big shock LOL.

Anywho, this was my creativity level when I was paper scrapping. Everything is perfectly lined up, all mats are perfectly even, which is fine, but it's BORING. There are 2 clips on each photo, on opposite corners. Journaling was printed on the computer as was the title, on a long strip of cardstock. The “embellishment” consisted of a large disco ball diecut a friend gave to me. The photos weren’t zoomed in or cropped at all, they were the exact snapshots that came home from the photo developers, that came right out of one of the disposable cameras we had on the tables at the wedding. Could this layout BE any more boring??? I haven’t re-scrapped these photos (mainly because they are currently attached to that layout, and not in my computer. But seeing this layout gave me a little push to re-scrap some of these old layouts (that being like what…5 or so that I actually finished…each as boring as the next…). I know I know, scrapbooking is about the memories, not about the art on the page. But here’s the thing…those layouts will never be seen. They are stuck in a plastic sleeve in my basement, they’re not even in an album…and even if they were, there would be like 5 pages to flip through and you’d be done! So I am going to scan in those photos and re-scrap them…who knows, maybe I can do it soon and give Dad a Disco Daddy-O layout for Father’s Day

Foil that layout with this one, recently published in Ready Set Create!

Credits: Jasbeanie's Cocktail of Surprises kit

Everything is still lined up, lots of straight lines here, but it's exciting! Inviting...Interesting! My scrapbooking has changes worlds since I started doing digital a little over a year ago, and I am so glad I have a medium that allows me to express my creativity that is in my head. And hopefully other people like to look at it too!

Who knows...maybe I'll actually win the next contest I enter!

Did ya ever have one of those days...???

2006-06-01T19:32:00.000-04:00

I thought today was going to be AWESOME! Piper slept in until 6:30 (yes, that's sleeping in as of late), she was happy and playful this morning. So we headed out to the grocery store to pick up a few things. It was hot when we came home, so I parked the car in the driveway, left it running with the AC on, took my house key off the key ring, and brought the groceries inside (can you see where this is heading yet??). I put her down for a nap, and she slept for 2 hours, YIPPEE. When she got up we had lunch, and headed out to Michaels (for basket-wrapping supplies for the bridal shower on Saturday) and Marshalls (for shoes and a dress for me for the wedding). Had fun at Michaels...was totally shocked that the total was only $20, as since I am usually buying stamps and jewlery making supplies when I am there, which, apparently, are considerably more expensive than a few sale silk flowers, floral foam, basket plastic bag, and a roll of ribbon LOL. Piper started getting fussy, so I decided on a super quick run around Marshalls, as I wasn't really expecting to find anything anyways. She got fussier in Marshalls, and I gave her a cookie, then she wanted some juice (reminds me of a book...). The guy checking me out couldn't get the dress that I found for Piper off the hanger, but I was trying to hold her sippy cup and swipe my credit card, so I was in no position to help, and he just stuffed the whole thing in the bag, hanger and all. No shoes or dress for me, but a dress and book for Piper, and we were off for home. The sky is getting blacker and blacker as we drive home, and the temperature is dropping. I get home, get all the stuff out of the trunk, run out to the street to get the mail (Scrapbook Answers...yay), and come back to go into the house put hte stuff down and get Pip, and lo and behold, my house key is not on my keyring. BLAST! I left it on the countertop. So I grab my cell and dial Dan, as the rain starts. Yes, I have locked myself out of the house, in a burgeoning thunderstorm, with a baby who needs to nurse, and doesn't want to be held in the humidity. Dan hasn't left work yet, so he's 30 min away. Thinking that Holly (MIL) would probably be closer, and has a spare key, I call her. And she's going to come rescue us. I call Dan back and say no hurry your mom's coming. He says, she drives too slow, I'll be there before she is, and then we'll be stuck with her all night. Good point. So I called her back and told her that I got ahold of Dan and he was closer (lie...but necessary). I pulled a lawn chair up onto the covered side porch, and nursed the baby as the rain started pouring. And then the thunder and lightning started. OK so I'm not a big fan of thunderstorms when I am safe in my house. I am LESS fond of them when I am locked out of my house, with my baby in tow. So once she was fed, we hopped in the car, and drove around listening to Laurie Berkner, until Dan got home. Unloaded Pip, and my purchases, and started on dinner. While digging through the cupboard for the orzo I bought and Dan put away (in the wrong place), I elbowed a jar of baby food and sent it hurtling towards the floor. CRASH! And there's baby food and glass all over the floor, and I'm in bare feet. Figures. So I clean up the area around the stove and cupboard, find the orzo, open the box, and spill some of that on to the floor. Well at least I needed to sweep anyways... Dump the orzo into the boiling water and continue to clean up the orzo/baby food/glass. Forgot to turn down the burner and the pan boiled over. Turned on the light to look and see if I got all the glass, and I blew out a bulb. I am like a walking disaster film tonight!

So I think I am going to bed early tonight, for fear of what else will happen if I stay up.

On my seemingly never ending search for a dress for BILs wedding I have found something that I like. My dilemma...
1. 9:30 am wedding in July = my outfit should be semi-casual
2. DH is best man and in a tux = my outfit should be dressy
3. wedding colors are fushia and burnt orange = I am going to be in photos, and can't clash with this color scheme

So I keep going back and forth between a dressy dress, and a more casual top and skirt. PLUS with my current "milk truck" chest, and not-back-to-pre-baby-size bottom half, I am 2 different sizes... So every dress I think I like, I then feel like it's probably too dressy, and every skirt set I think I like, I then feel is too casual. I found this one the other day in Chadwicks catalog:

Is it too casual? Is it going to make my bottom half look larger than it actually is? Is it too casual? I am so at a loss as to what to wear to this wedding. It wouldn't be an issue if I wasn't going to be in the photos...I'd just wear whatever. I have been to lots of weddings and never really gave my dress a second thought. But my SIL looks RIDICULOUS in our wedding photos. My colors were pastels, it was an evening wedding, and she wore a very casual pants set in dark turquoise blue. I don't want to be that person in someone elses photos.

I have been seriously considering making myself something (or my mom offered to make it for me). That way I could make a different sized top and bottom, and get everything fit the way I need it. But that's a lot of effort for something that is going to be worn once...especially when it's not my wedding and I'm not standing up in it. I just don't know.

Alrighty, enough blathering, time to put Pip to bed!

Sneaky Peek and MORE RAIN

2006-05-26T16:00:00.000-04:00

Well...my latest and greatest kit is done...but you're going to have to wait a bit to see the whole thing...it's top secret!

but here's a sneaky peek just to give you a taste:

We had a nice reprieve from the rain...it was GORGEOUS here monday through thursday...and today it's humid and sticky and YUCK. I decided that since it was generally yucky outside, and Piper and I weren't going to be going for a walk, we'd head to Target, and get diapers and a bridal shower gift for the Wedding of Doom (i.e. my BIL's wedding...to the girl he doesn't like, but thinks her mom is hot, so at least she'll be hot when she's older...because that's solid grounds for a marriage). Anywho. We pull into Target, and lo and behold it starts raining. Now the last time Pip and I went to Target, I got drenched, head to toe in the outright downpour that was going on...so I wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of rain during this Target trip. However we made it in and out unscathed. Bridal shower gift in tow...I am actually proud of this gift. She had registered for some gardening stuff, and I found this awesome orange metal tub on sale and miraculously all of the stuff I bought fits inside it! And I only spent $50...$10 less than the $60 coffee machine I had planned on buying! So now I have to find on of those clear plastic basket wrapper thingies...or just tie some ribbon on the handles of the basket, and fill the bottom with some shredded paper or something...probably the latter.

While I'm here...might I recommend some good summer reads (and by all means if you have recommendations, PLEASE post them in the comments, I am always on the hunt for a good book).

Right now my author of the month is Jennifer Weiner. I picked up her book "Good in Bed" on an Amazon Recommendation, under the impression that it was going to be my typical romantic comedy, with a little sex thrown in for good measure...I couldn't have been more wrong. An AMAZING novel that spoke right to me...heavy-set woman dealing with the break-up with her boyfriend, who plasters their love life and relationship in general in his column in a national magazine, which she initially finds offensive, until she realizes how much he actually loved her, at which point she tries to get him back (the kicker is, he actually is a loser...but he did love her, I'll give him that...). Anywho...reading during my exams and potty breaks, I finished it in a week...which as of late, is postively DEVOURING a book. Upon finishing, I happened upon another Weiner novel at the grocery store, her most recent "Goodnight, Nobody." The first book spoke to the fat girl in me...the second book spoke to the stay-at-home-mom in me, and was yet again, another AMAZING novel. Being as I ususally subscribe to the romantic comedy view of the world, I was a tad disappointed in the ending...but so be it, still a fabulous read. SO while wandering through Target today I just happened upon another Weiner novel (ok so I was actually SCOURING the book section PRAYING that they would have one of the 2 I hadn't yet read). So today I picked up "Little Earthquakes" and can't wait to start reading it.

Which is what I will be doing in my off time most of this weekend...aside from scrapping and working on my next kit...

NO PARTY AT MILs THIS WEEKEND!! YAHOOOOOOO! BIL (the one getting married) was whining that we were just there for Mother's Day, and she was going to have us again for Father's Day, and Erica's shower is next weekend, so enough is enough, and she decided not to have a Memorial Day picnic! YAYYAYAYAYYAYYAAAY! No tastless hamburgers...No saltless potato salad....No "same chocolate chip cookies she makes for every single occasion and taste awful"

Normally that would mean that Dan and I and Pip will do something fun this weekend...unfortunately Dan is on call, and can't be far from his computer in case there were a problem....bugger...

Alrighty, off to flip the laundry and get dinner going!

Freebie Alert!

2006-05-23T08:29:00.000-04:00

I made this kit a while ago for the Digital Freebies Spring Fling CD, and I never got around to playing with it! So I made a cute layout, and decided to share it as a quickpage! Hope you like it! If you snag it, leave me a comment :) And all the usual rules apply, no commercial use, don't hotlink it or upload to a yahoo group, if you like it and you want your friends to have it, send them here!

Here's a preview:

And here's the link:
Link 1

If it runs out, I'll update it within the 7 days period (i.e. you have until 5/30 to snag it :) )

Hope you like it!

Here he is! My new nephew!

2006-05-18T22:28:00.000-04:00

I am quite the excited Auntie! Drove all the way down to Norwich to see my new nephew. And here he is:

and here's a picture of him with his future favorite auntie (pay no mind to my width, my jacket was sticking out on the sides, I swear I don't ACTUALLY take up that much space LOL)

I brought Ania lots of presents, which she of course admonished me for, and then thanked me profusely. Had a nice little visit, and then drove all the way back home.

Holding Radek made me realize just how much Piper has grown and changed. My uterus started to ache a bit for another baby, but I told it to shut up, and now we're all back on the same page, one kid, 2 parents, happy healthy family LOL

Off to bed

My baby is 10 months old....and I'm an Auntie again!

2006-05-17T21:08:00.000-04:00

Ok, it's official...today Piper is as old outside the womb as she was inside...sob. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I feel like it was just yesterday (ok maybe not yesterday, maybe 2 weeks ago) that I was bringing her home from the hospital scared out of my mind, realizing how unprepared I was for this whole Mommy thing. And here I sit today, my darling baby sound asleep in her crib, thinking, I really hope no permanent damage comes from the 15 times she hit her head on the floor/wall/crib rails/playpen/my head today, gosh babies are clumsy...it's a good thing she doesn't bruise like I do or people would think I beat her! I think I've gotten the hang of this mommy thing...and I love it! There is nothing in the world that compares to drooly baby kisses, silly giggles, and hugs from my munchkin.

AND

Ania (my best friend in the whole wide world) had her baby today! Radek came into the world around 5 pm, 7lb 13oz, Ania had no meds because she went from 4cm to fully dialated in 15 min, and 2 pushes and he was out! I am going to visit them tomorrow at some point...probably after Dan gets home, as the hospital only allows siblings to visit, no other children, so I can't take Piper (MIL is coming over tomorrow to watch her for a bit while I go to SJC and pick up my checks, and maybe get a pedicure, but the time that I arranged, doesn't fit in with visiting hours, and it's too late to call and change things...plus I still have to pick up the checks regardless, so I might as well leave everything as planned, and then leave Pip home with Dan after he gets home from work, run down, hug Ania and my new nephew and run back)

It's a happy day today (especially since my last final was yesterday!!!)

We're havin' a party...

2006-05-12T16:32:00.000-04:00

At ScrapMommies.com, we're all about pampering the mommy in everyone, that's why we're taking the Mother's Day Weekend to Pamper YOU!

First, starting Friday, May 12th through Friday May 19th, we're having a STOREWIDE 50% OFF SALE! Make sure you don't miss out on the FABULOUS products we have in the store, some will be as low as $1.50!

Next, also starting on Friday, May 12th, we will be giving away this FABULOUS, GIANT kit, Thanks Mom! for FREE!!

We'll be posting a link a day for the kit, make sure you don't miss a link, because each link will be available for 1 day only! The first link will be released at the Friday night Kick Off Crop with Amy at 10 PM EST! After this week, you can buy the kit in the store. PLEASE NOTE: You MUST be a registered user in the ScrapMommies forum and logged in to access these downloads. If you are not already a registered user, please register HERE.

What Else? We're having a day of crops on both Saturday AND Sunday with fun, freebies and inspiration! Here's the schedule!

FINALLY, we're having a huge layout contest and the Winner will recieve a $25 Gift Certificate to the ScrapMommies store! Our theme is "Moms as Everyday Heroes" Please see HERE for more information on how to enter!

Please see www.scrapmommies.com for more information!

We'll see you this weekend!

Aahhhhh....

2006-04-28T16:34:00.000-04:00

OK the white on black was making my eyes bug out, so I switched it :) Now I need a new header, as the pink looks kinda wonky on the white...plus it's long since winter LOL

I have a gifty for you my faithful blog readers. You may have seen my latest ang greatest at Digital Freebies called Easter Dress, it has 2 pieces, clean and distressed, that both combined make up the mega kit. It has a 3rd piece, soon to be posted at Digital Freebies as this week's Friday Freebie, WHOO HOO! AND if that weren't enough, it actually has a 4th piece, VELLUM, which I am going to share here for a limited time :)

Here's the preview:

And here's the link: Click Me!
Hope you like it! Leave me a comment if you take it, and let me know when you use it! The usual things apply, tell your friends it's here, but don't share it with them. Don't alter it and call it yours. Don't upload it to a yahoo group to share. If you like it and want to share, send 'em here :)

Have a great weekend!

Someone does not like me today...

2006-04-19T11:23:00.000-04:00

Piper has been giving me absolute hell going down for naps lately, mainly because she is no longer sleeping in our dark, cool bedroom, with humidifier making nice white noise, but in her bright, warm, silent room in her large crib. So I can't just put her to sleep and lean over and get her into her co-sleeper during the day anymore, I have to put her to sleep, walk her to the crib, put her in, put the side up. and walk out. Since she only sleeps in there for about 1.5 hrs during the day, but spends the whole night in our room in the cosleeper, the humidifier stays in there.

Yesterday, I didn't get her down for either of her naps. MIL ended up, after an hour of crying (Piper here at home, and me in my car going to work) getting her down for her morning nap. She wouldn't take her afternoon nap either.

Today, I got her down with minimal effort for her morning nap. Got her into the crib with only waking her for a few seconds.

and then

10 minutes later, the dog threw a fit outside at the Fed Ex guy (who was delivering...you guessed it, motorcycle parts!), AND 3 pans came crashing, unprompted by me, out of the cabinet, onto the stone kitchen floor.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH. She's up. And of course, she won't go back down.

So she's having quiet time in her crib with a few toys, so that mommy can cool off from idiot dog and idiot MIL (who precariously balanced a glass baking dish on top of 2 smaller metal pans in the cabinet yesterday when she insisted on doing my dishes...and not getting them clean....instead of playing with the baby)

Dan is out of town this week...so not only do I have to deal with MIL and her crap for my day classes, but also for my night classes this week...and I am going INSANE. It's bad enough I have to work when I don't want to. But to have to deal with MIL more often than normal is TORTURE! Especially when she WON'T LISTEN TO ME.

And especially after this weekend...

Last week MIL told me (after we lowered the crib mattress down) that I needed to lower it down to the lowest level because Piper could fall out. She is just barely shoulders above the rail...there is no way in God's Green Earth that she can fall out of the crib, unless she had something to stand on to boost herself up another at least 6 inches... So whatever I ignore her, because I know she can't fall out, and MIL has the common sense of a flea.

So sunday we are at her house for Easter. She invites everyone for 1pm, food is supposed to be ready for 2pm, food isn't out until 2:30 pm, and Piper's naptime is 3pm. She KNOWS Piper's naptime is 3pm because she is here every Tuesday and Thursday until 2:30, and tells me every day when I get home, that Piper is tired. So 3pm rolls around, and GUESS WHAT, Piper is tired. So I tell everyone I have to go home to put Piper down for a nap, and this is what MIL says

"Can't you just put her down to sleep on my bed?"

I swear, I almost killed her...standing right there in her kitchen in front of the whole family. Somehow, the CRIB, with mattress lowered one notch is not safe for her...but putting her to sleep on a 4 foot high bed with metal head and foot boards is??? Without rails, without sides, without a BABY MONITOR??? I FLIPPED! I said, um she can roll, crawl, pull up, and almost walk, you had an absolute coniption fit about me keeping her in the cosleeper, which has sides, and you want me to put her to sleep on your BED? NO. We are going home, and Piper is going to take a nap. And I left.

When DH came home (he took his motorcycle), I asked, So how long did your mom cry for after I left. 20 minutes was the answer. DH said, buy a crib, buy a playpen, give her a safe place to sleep if you want her to stay during her naptime. and she says "I didn't know I was supposed to buy a crib?" sob sob DH says you don't HAVE to buy a crib, but then we will have to leave when it is Piper's nap time. She says "So you'll stay longer if Piper has somewhere to sleep?" (OMG is she REALLY this dumb or is it an act???) "Yes mom, we'll be able to stay longer if Piper has somewhere safe to sleep. You will have to make a place for her to sleep, just like you made a place for Devlin and Amber (his nephew and niece) to sleep when they are at your house"

I swear, it is like dealing with a 5 year old most of the time. She has no common sense, no logical thought ability.

I came home from work last week and the house was STIFLING. It was SO HOT. It had gotten warm throughout the day, and she didn't have the sense enough to open the windows. We don't have central air, she knows that, neither do they, and when it gets hot, you open windows. But she couldn't figure that out. So she let it be hot in here, and left piper in long pants, long sleeved shirt, and socks.

5 more classes...5 more classes...5 more classes

and then I don't have to deal with this crap again until next january, when I have a day class again.

Calgon...

Everyday is yet another day

2006-04-12T19:51:00.000-04:00

OK I have no clue what the title of this post means, but I couldn't come up with anything clever or witty to call it, so that will have to do.

Piper had her 9 month doctor's appointment today. She's right on track for weight, height, and head circumference. All her motor skills are on par for her age. The only concern is that she is not "babbling" yet. She ooohs and aahhhs but no bababa or dadada. The doctor (based on what we told her about Piper's behavior at home) doesn't think she has a hearing problem. So we're on hold for a month and a half, and if in that time she is still not babbling, they'll start doing some tests to see why her language development is delayed. I know they all say that all babies develop on their own pace, and she never has been a very vocal child, she was a very quiet baby since day one, but I still can't help but worry. Of course we will be ok with whatever happens, whether it's nothing, hearing impairment, or language impairment, what-have-you; but no matter who you are, you don't WANT anything to be wrong with your baby, and you hope against hope that nothing will be.

On monday, Piper discovered the water in her bathtub. It was the most interesting thing to witness. She has always loved her bath. She loves to kick and splash (me) and chew on her rubber duckie, and I guess in all this time, even with the kicking and splashing, she never REALLY noticed the water. So monday she saw it, sparkling from the bathroom light, and tried to grab it. She would try to lightly put her hand down on the surface of the water, as if it were solid, and then it would move, and she looked completely bewilldered. One of the best things about being a parent is getting to see things through your child's eyes. Watching her explore the water, try to put her hand flat on it, try to pick it up, put it in her mouth, was so amazing.

Things on the marriage front have been less than spectacular lately, I'm blaming it on work stress and depression...I'll see how far that takes me.

7 more class days plus the finals and I am DONE!!!!! Of course that takes me to mid May, but I'm almost there!

Off to put Pip to bed. Thanks for reading my ramblings :)

Lookit!

2006-04-10T20:04:00.000-04:00

I'm famous! Well sort of: Melissa's Digi Picks of the Day

And this time I didn't even have to bribe her! (ok so I didn't REALLLLY bribe her the last time she picked my layout, I just respond to a request for Denise Docherty layouts...and lord knows I have those LOL)

Lots to tell and no time to tell it...later :)

hmmmm...

2006-04-07T19:28:00.000-04:00

You Are Marcia Brady

Confident yet kind. Popular yet down to earth. You're a total dream girl.
You've got the total package - no wonder everyone's a little jealous of you.

What Brady Are You?

hmmmmm....'nuff said...

Plumber, Snow, and Contractors...Oh My!

2006-04-05T11:08:00.000-04:00

Still no plumber... a week and a half, and he still hasn't even called.

Last week on wednesday, it was 65 and sunny. Ania had gone to the beach. Today, it is cold and snowing...go figure... all my bulbs are coming up so boy oh boy do I hope it doesn't get TOO cold... I'd be really miffed

And the contractor.

I was joking about the 10 grand...I knew it was going to be more than that...

He came on monday night with his estimate...

Here's the back story. Previously we had 2 contractors come out and give us estimates on re-doing the basement. Putting wallboard up over the existing panelling, fixing the current ceiling, door on the laundry room. And both gave us estimates of 10 grand.

Todd, of Handyman -N- More, came out on monday with his officially typed estimate (separate copies for me, Dan, and himself)...oh boy I thought, here it comes.

Todd is going to tear down the existing walls, seal the concrete and any cracks, fix any existing framing problems, drywall with special mold/mildew resistant wallboard (he said this was made especially for bathrooms/damp areas...um...ok, OUR PLUMBER SUCKS! there's no special wallboard in our brand new bathroom...it's just plain wallboard), he's going to dig a trench around the perimeter of the basement so that any water that comes in will flow directly to the sump pump, tear down the existing drop ceiling and replace it, new doors, new trim, new gas stove to heat the basement, everything perfect...

For $9,000

He's going to tear off our existing roof and replace it, new soffetts, new gutters with special gutter guards, install a special venting thingie in the attic to release heat and help insulate the house, put in special thingies that filters melted snow off the roof appropriately, etc.

For $5,000

He's going to tear off the existing siding, re-insulate and re-side the whole house, including new shutters, and painting our plain concrete exposed chimney

For $7,000

Yep, our whole house redone top to bottom for $21,000. Our loan was approved for $40g. We talked and thought we could either take out less money, and have lower payments, or strike while the iron is hot (hosing market is up, interest rates are down and we are capable of getting a loan), and get the garage that Dan wants and the central air that I want too. Unfortunately Todd doesn't do central air, but he recommended someone that does, and Todd is coming out tonight to give us estimates on different types of garages.

The BEST thing about all of this...His work time frame was June 1-July 15. A new basement, a new roof, and new siding, in a month and a half! WHOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!

So true, once we sign the papers for the loan, there is NO WAY I can be a full time SAHM (until Dan gets a big raise LOL). BUT the whole house (pretty much) will be redone, the value will skyrocket, and we will have livable space again. YIPEEE!

Still no plumber

2006-03-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

OK I really dislike this guy. It's one thing not to show up, it's an entirely other thing not to even call!!! Whatever... there's a bucket under the leak, so we'll live LOL

We have a meeting with a handyman guy on Sat. Dan called to get an estimate on getting a bunch of work done on the house. See the housing market it still high but dropping, and the interest rates are still low, but rising, so if we want to get a loan to do work on the house we have to do it now before the housing market drops leaving us with no equity in the house. Sooooo... we're getting estimates on re-redoing the basement, the whole kit and kaboodle this time, wallboard, ceiling, doors for the laundry room, everything. A new roof, as we found out from his initial look-around that ours is no longer legal (they're not allowed to put 3 layers of shingles on anymore, only 2), new siding (ours is old dirty wood), and a few other things. If the estimate is manageable enough we are hoping to add central air (through the cieling not the floors), and a small garage to keep the motorcycle, lawn mower, and a future snow blower in. But we shall see what he says. We always joke that every estimate we get for work on the house is $10,000. This time that would be wicked cheap, so here's hoping LOL (more likely it will be around 30..) So maybe while he's here fixing the basement, etc. HE can fix the stinking leaky bathroom from heck.

On a SUPER positive note I won a CONTEST! YIPPEEE! Traci had a "finish the sketch" contest on her blog, and I won it! I am super psyched! Especially since the prize was her new kit that I have been absolutely DROOOOOLING over for close to a month now! YAY! Thanks again Traci!! (I'll put my winning layout at the bottom).

Anywho, that's about all that's going on here. If I had enough energy I could probably kill my MIL, but it's not like that's news LOL.

Alrighty, off to find lunch before Pip and I head out to Target
Layout Credits:
Kit: Sugar Doodle by Mindy Terasawa at The Sweet Shoppe
Atomic Cupcake Actions
Font: Inkburrow
Unfinished sketch by Traci Reed

Day 2 of Plumber Watch

2006-03-28T22:27:00.000-05:00

Can you say deja-vu? Still no sign nor sound from the plumber. I really dislike this guy...a lot!

Looooong day today. I felt totally harried all day. I so can't wait for this semester to be over...6.5 more weeks (plus finals), but who's counting???

The neverending saga of our house...AKA The Money Pit Strikes Again

2006-03-25T20:14:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, a boy met a girl, they liked eachother a lot, and 3 years later they got married. "Wouldn't it be nice to own a house?" the boy asked, and the girl agreed. Several months later the found a cute little ranch in a nice little neighborhood, and made an offer. "What are these water stains on the basement ceiling?" the boy asked the house inspector. "Well, there are no pipes up there so I suspect someone spilled something on the floor upstairs and it seeped through" stated the house inspector. And so the boy and girl bought their quaint little house in their quiet little neighborhood.

One day the girl decided to take a bath, since there was no bathtub in their previous apartment, she was really looking forward to it. She gathered all of her bath things, yummy smelling bubble, music, candles, and a good book, and headed off for a long soak in the tub. Little did she know that after her bath she would be in for a rude awakening...

After a wonderful bath, refilling the tub several times to keep warm and continue soaking, the girl went to the basement to do some laundry. And she stepped in a HUGE puddle in the brand new carpet in the basement, near the laundry area. Clearly the bathtub had leaked. And that was the last bath the girl had in a long time.

A few years later, the girl was pregnant, and so desperately wanted to soak her aching back in a tub, just for a little while. So Chris the Plumber was called, and dispatched to fix the leaky overflow valve. AHHHHHH, a nice (lukewarm) bath, and the girl was feeling much better.

A few months later, the boy was taking a shower, and lo and behold, the basement floor was wet again! (Luckily...or unluckily....the brand new carpet had been ruined by 2 floods within a week about a month previous). Chris the plumber was called, and it was discovered that the connection between the faucet and pipe was leaking. Chris the Plumber attempted to fix the leak, and broke the pipe. With help from the girl's parents it was decided to replace the tub entirely with a whole new tub, a nice deeeeeeeep tub. 3 days later Chris the plumber came back to fix the pipe temporarily until he installed the new tub the next day. 2 weeks later Chris the Plumber returned to install the new tub, and 4 days later he finished. Now the boy and girl, and baby girl had a nice, new, deeeeeeeep bathtub to soak in. Hazaaah! The girl had a nice (short) bath, and was very happy for it. The boy and girl vowed never to call Chris the Plumber again, as his "3 day job" took over 3 weeks to complete, and left them without the means to bathe for a total of 7 days.

A few months later, the boy took a shower (thankfully this was a regular occurance, with the newly remodeled tub). The girl went downstairs to wash the baby's new 12 month clothes (even though the baby girl is only 8 months old...she's an overachiever), and lo and behold, the basement floor was wet again. As it was all of Chris the Plumber's work that seems to be leaking, it was decided that Chris the Plumber would be called again, in hopes that he might not charge them (which will surely not happen, but it was worth a shot).

So now the girl, and the baby girl will wait at home on monday to see if Chris the Plumber shows up to fix the leak. More likely, the girl and baby girl will be waiting at home all week for Chris the Plumber, as he has not been the most reliable plumber in the 2 years that the boy and girl have owned the house.

Piper had a new First!

2006-03-22T11:28:00.000-05:00

Nope she didn't crawl

Nope she didn't stand by herself

Nope she didn't say mama or dada or baba or cookie

Nope she didn't walk

What she did do, for the very first time was

POOP in the bathtub! Yep, she pooped in the bathtub. And on a work day too. My child, always knows how to throw a monkey wrench into my already stressed out work day LOL It was about 5 seconds after I got her into the tub, so needless to say, her bath was cut VERY VERY short yesterday. I'd give her another one today, but I am still waiting on the actual large poop which I know is still coming, SO bath time will have to wait for that, because I am not cleaning out the tub again.

A quick Thank You! to Nikki, Laura, Traci, Valerie, Christine, Angi, and Karen for stopping by and offering hugs in my dark time. Luv you girls :)

Alright, Miss Pip seems to be awakening from her nap...so I should probably go :)

My inner Pop Princess

2006-03-21T19:40:00.000-05:00

(found this on Jeanine's Blog)
I always knew there was an inner diva itching to come out...and how appropriate that it is...

Your Inner Pop Princess Is Kelly Clarkson

"Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be"

No doubt about it, you have star quality. Might just take a while to get there.

Who's Your Inner Pop Princess?

Pip pics

2006-03-20T22:04:00.000-05:00

I made this "quickie" for the gals at ACP, who were jonesin' for some Pip pics, and I thought it came out rather cute, and I'd share it here.

I have finally tried my hand at some 8.5x11 layouts, landscape direction. I have always LOVED the way they looked, but could never get out of the square mode. Anywho, this is rectangle layout #2 :)

Feeling ok today...but back to work tomorrow...was on spring break last week and it was very nice. Back to the grind...joy... Calgon take me away LOL

Off to bed, to dream a little dream...hopefully not containing mice or squirrels...odd dream that maybe someday I'll share :)

My Muppet Personality

2006-03-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

You Are Miss Piggy

A total princess and diva, you're totally in charge - even if people don't know it.
You want to be loved, adored, and worshiped. And you won't settle for anything less.
You're going to be a total star, and you won't let any of the "little people" get in your way.
Just remember, piggy, never eat more than you can lift!

The Muppet Personality Test

I took a different version of this test once, I was Beaker...not sure which is worse LOL

time flies...

2006-03-15T18:54:00.000-05:00

when you're working and not having fun at all... The semester is half over, thank goodness, Piper will be 8 months old on Friday (OMG), and I haven't posted here in a month...

Still sad about working, but the end is in sight...I have 7 weeks of classes left...halfway through...halfway done.... Halfway back to the way that I want my life to be, raising my child, feeling less stretched, less guilty, less sad (here's hoping).

Ania and Krzys's birthday is this weekend. Piper and I are going to their party ALLLLLL the way down in Groton. Dan is on call this weekend and may or may not be able to go.

I apologize for being "negative" again...but I feel like I am rolling around in a pit of depression, and I'm getting a bit tired of it. I am hoping that my mood will improve once work is over, and I feel less stressed...who knows. I have a feeling a visit from the Paxil Fairy is in my future...I'm ok with that...I was proud to go off of it 5 years ago... but I always said if I needed it again, I would go back. I am definately headed in that direction...

On a more positive note, my kits are selling really well. I have released 3 this month, Blue Jean Baby (with a freebie add-on at Digital Freebies until Thursday), Raspberry and Lime (which was available as a freebie to Ready-Set-Create readers, and is now at Digital Freebies), and an Add-on to my Valentines kit (previously the feb challenge prize kit at DF, now available in the store). I have another in the works: Warm Hugs, and about a billion in my head, without time to get them out on the computer.

I've done a bunch of new layouts lately, you can check them out at ScrapMommies or Digital Freebies

In addition to my regular appearance in Ready-Set-Create, I have had my second digital layout printed in a national printed magazine...well sort of... My "Siblings" layout was included on the Bonus CD-ROM that accompanies all issues of Scrapbook Answers magazine, the April 2006 issue...so I guess technically I wasn't published IN the magazine...but close enough (my first publication, I can't remember if I posted about it or not was in the Fall 2005 issue of Digital Scrapbooking Magazine, my "Many Faces of Max" layout in an article featuring scrapping your pets). I am really excited about this most recent publication...I feel famous or something :)

Alrighty, I am on Spring Break from Quinnipiac this week, and should probably work ahead so I can be on top of things before I go back (yeah...right), so I am off to do something constructive (read: sirf the net, and read blogs until it's time for Pip to go to bed)

I'll leave you with my most recent layout called "So Big" credits: Kimberly Giarrusso's Amaze kit from the Digital Freebies Club, font: Suzie's Hand (my new fave, thanks to Laura :) )

very sad...

2006-02-08T22:27:00.000-05:00

Going back to work has been really hard on me (I'm sure it's not easy on most moms, but with my history, I think it's hitting me exceptionally hard). I am really stressed, and feel like I don't have enough time for anything anymore...not enough time to get my stuff together for class, not enough time to enjoy scrapping or kit making, not enough time to spend with Piper, not enough time to get housework done. Definately not enough time with Dan, which was seriosly lacking anyways, and now I am gone 2 nights a week.

And to top it off, people are dropping my Physio Psych class like FLIES. It's awful. I don't know how many drops I have had, but I have had 4 withdrawls (drop after the add/drop period, so the course still shows on your transcript, but says withdrawl by it...shows people that you started to take the course, but then changed your mind, typically because you were doing poorly). This is SO not a good thing. And their complaint: They didn't know the class was going to be so biological. Um..ok...it's called PHYSIOLOGICAL psychology...what the heck did you THINK we were going to talk about? Flowers?? The first day of class I stand in front and say "This course is very biologically heavy, if you don't have a lot of biological background, you are going to have to work to keep up in the course" Did they think I was kidding??? Our entire first 2 classes are devoted to the structure and function of the neuron...yes 3 HOURS of structure and function of the neuron, and you couldn't have figured out by then that this class was going to be biologically based???

My point, and I swear I have one, is every time a student withdraws, I feel really badly, like I am not doing my job or something, like I am letting them down, that somehow I should make the course easier so that that student would have stayed...BUT I have taught this course in this way for 4 years, and EVERY semester I have had at least 1 student get an A+...can't make it much easier than that!!! It is my firm belief that every student in the course is capable of getting an A+, its just the amount of work each individual has to put in that differs. Anyways I am getting away from my point again...

Being away from Piper makes me feel bad. Not having time with my husband makes me feel bad. Piles of dishes in the sink, laundry in the bathroom, dog hair on the floor makes me feel bad. And now swarms of students withdrawing makes me feel bad. The only thing that I have pushing me in the other direction is that not making money makes me feel bad...BUT if I wasn't prepping classes and teaching (and writing and grading tests, and grading papers, and answering emails and etc etc) I would be making kits to sell, which does make money, granted not much yet, but I'm getting there... I'm just not sure that the money I will make this semester is worth the guilt, sadness, depression, and loss I feel. But money is such a HUGE pressure, that I know come "sign up" time I am most likely going to take on at least one class in the fall...

I feel like no one understands that being a mom IS a FULL TIME JOB. Without the added pressure of having another job to go to. TRUE it's not a PAYING job, but it is a job. I also feel like since I am the one that is home 3 times a week, I am still expected to be a "housewife" taking care of all the chores, doing the shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. But what no one seems to realize is that the time that I have when Piper is a sleep (2 hours a day if I am lucky) is spent writing lectures, handouts, exams, grading papers, etc. for my other job, or taking a tiny bit of leisure time and making a layout, or futzing with a photo. When she is up I am being a parent. I have a lot of trouble just putting her in the high chair so I can do other things, that's not fair to her if she doesn't want to be there. I do do it on occasion, when I have no other choice, but I really don't like to do it.

I am really wrestling with this decision. Dan says he supports whatever I decide 100%, but how can he? He knows that we need the money. And he has to work every day and be away from Piper, so how can he understand that twice a week is too much for me? I guess the difference is, other than randomly occurring problems in the middle of the night, his job ends when he leaves the building, whereas mine doesn't. Mine requires TONS of out-of-classroom work, that with raising a baby I don't have time for. On the weekends, he gets to look at magazines, surf the net, go out with his brother, and I get to scramble and write as much as I can before he goes back to work and I am back down to 2 hours a day I can work on things (well and it's not even 2 hours a day, it's 2 hours on MWF, T and TH I am gone during her nap). (which is why I am writing this at 11 pm... I should have gone to bed hours ago, I am so tired, but I have to get things done before class tomorrow...)

So I think the solution is to not take on more than one course in the fall...but then I wonder if the $3000 I'll make for that course is worth the hassle of it all in the end. If I was making more than adjunct wages, 1 course would be a LOT more money, and well worth it...but I'm not...I'm stuck as an adjunct making nothing for the hours that I spend working in and out of the classroom...

Some days life sucks...

I've been Tagged again!

2006-02-07T08:21:00.000-05:00

Wow I feel so popular LOL Thanks to Laura for tagging me!

What were you doing 10 years ago? I had just transfered to Barat College in IL from Hope College in MI. I was pretty sad and happy, happy to be closer to home, but sad because I didn't know anyone. I remember they made me take the beginning dance classes for no credit because they weren't sure if I was ready for the intermediate dance classes, which I was also taking. It was probably right about this time that we took a trip to Chicago to go ice skating, and I hurt my shins, and was "benched" for a few weeks from dance...

What were you doing one year ago? throwing up LOL. No, one year ago I was 5 months pregnant, and was teaching 3 classes at 2 colleges (same as now), and getting a million and one ultrasounds.

5 Favorite Snacks: Hostess Cupcakes, Turtles, Dog Food (chex with pb, choco, and powdered sugar), ice cream, Snackwells vanilla sandwich cookies

5 Songs to which I know all the lyrics: pretty much anything that comes on... I am a bit of a savant when it comes to music

5 Bad Habits: procrastination, biting my nails, cursing, leaving laundry in the washer, interrupting when I am excited or reminded of something

5 Things You Like Doing: taking photos and scrapping them, reading, surfing the net, dancing, playing games (board, video...whatever)

5 Things You Would Never Wear, Get or Buy Again.
I would never wear a midriff bearing shirt again...FAR too many stretch marks for anyone else to see (I did wear one in HS once, under overalls though so you couldn't really see my belly LOL)
I would never buy a Chevy Cavalier again (well technically I didn't buy it, my parents did, but that thing was a lemon from day one)
I will never get subs from Quiznos again...OMG the WORST food EVER
I will never get my hair cut too too short again (I look like Christian Slater when I do)
I will never get off the boat (cruise ship) in Nassau Bahamas again...when we go on another cruise, if the boat stops there, I'm staying on board and doing something fun...that was the WORST day of our honeymoon

5 Favorite Toys
my computer
my future camera
my future tablet
my stamps
my baby (ok so she's not a toy, but she's tons of fun to play with...does that count???)

5 Tags:
Valerie, Angi, Amanda, Stacey, Kryss

It's February???!!!???

2006-02-01T20:49:00.000-05:00

OK when the heck did it become February (and WHY is it spelled with that R that NO ONE pronounces...it's like Wednesday and that D...)

I have conflicting feelings about it becoming Feb... I don't want it to be Feb already because I turn 29 this year on the 19th...YIKES... by the way, this is the last time I am aging, from here on out all birthdays are my 29th. So it becoming Feb marks another year passing in my life...TRUE it was a GREAT year, with the hugest highlight of having Piper, but still, another year gone by...

I am excited that it's Feb because it's one month closer to the end of the semester. That's right, I am already counting down the weeks to the end of the semester (and this week is the 2nd week of the semester, how sad is that???)

I am very conflicted about being back to work. I am glad that Piper gets Daddy time, and sorta glad she gets time with Holly...ok so I'm not really glad about that but I keep thinking if I keep saying it, I'll start believing it...right??? I like being back in front of the class (most of the time...) and I think what I do is important to the students, I am very well-liked as a professor...BUT I feel so horribly guilty about leaving her 2 days/nights a week. She's on formula now when I'm gone (the whole pumping thing never really worked out), and now she's getting constipated from the formula. She totally fought her naps today, and the guilty voice in my head told me that it was because on T and TH I put her down for her morning nap, and then I go to work, and when she wakes up, it's Grandma Holly that she sees, not me, so nap time means mommy's going away. (honestly I'm not sure she's capable of holding memories long enough that this is possible...but that's what I thought regardless).

Holly washes my dishes when she is here...which you think would be a good thing, but she doesn't just toss them in the dishwasher, she hand washes them all, drys them, and puts them away. Still, you'd think that would be nice. This morning I get out a bowl for my cereal, and there is still chili remnants in the bowl from the night previous...so true she is washing the dishes...BUT she's not actually getting them CLEAN. Plus she is doing this all while Piper is taking a nap, and every day when I come home, (after telling her that Piper should be asleep for at least another 45 min or so after I leave) she says Oh Piper woke up about 10 min after you left...well you spent that 10 min clanking the dishes around in the sink I wonder why she woke up???!!!??? Yesterday, she made my bed... now that's going a little too far. If you're grossed out by the stack of dishes in the sink that I didn't get to, so be it. But leave my bed alone!!! True she has to enter my bedroom to get Piper up from her nap, Piper has a co-sleeper in our room that she sleeps in...but go in, pick the baby up, and leave...that is my private, personal bedroom. Unfortunately, Holly is so delicate, that I can't say any of this to her, because she would flip out and think that I hate her, and cry for days, and tell Dan how much I hate her, and then I would have to apologise for saying don't wash my dishes unless you're going to actually get them clean. SO on top of the 350,000 other things I have on my mind, I have to remember to do the dishes on Mon and Wed night, and to make my bed on Tues and Thurs... because I needed more stress...

Other than that, it's like 40 degrees here lately during the day, in the middle of the winter in New England. I'm tellin' ya, the earth has entered some weird weather vortex or something...next thing you know it's going to snow in July

In other news...Ania has a new apartment/condo/whatever. BUT it's in Groton, which is easily over an hour away. Now true, Groton is in CT and not in Poland, but could she live any farther away from me??? Piper and I are going out there on Friday, but this is going to be a VERY occasional occurrance, which really stinks because she is pg with my second "nephew" and I really liked being a big part of Krzys' life, and I am not going to be as big of a part of Raddik's life, plus they are planning to move to Poland in a year, so I guess this was all coming sooner or later...

Well that's about it for me...of to flip the laundry, and make sure I have everything ready for class tomorrow!

I've been Tagged!

2006-01-17T10:17:00.000-05:00

Angi, who I know from Digiscrappin' and ScrapMommies has tagged me.... here we go!

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:
SAHM (by far my favorite)
College professor
Research assistant
Tutor

Four movies you would watch over and over:

Only 4??? Stargate, Total Recall, Sweet Home Alabama, Hope Floats

Four places you have lived:
Connecticut
Minnesota
Illinois/Indiana
Kansas

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Stargate SG1
Charmed
Carol Duvall Show
Paula Deen's Home Cooking

Four places you have been on vacation:
Orlando, FL
Newport, RI
Manchester, VT
Paris

Four websites you visit daily:
Digital Freebies
ScrapMommies
Digiscrappin'
A Charming Place

Four of your favorite foods:
Pasta
Mexican
Indian
Ice Cream

Four places you would rather be right now:
somewhere warm (I like that one :) )
Paris
on a cruise
The magical land of no work where I don't have to go back to work next tuesday (where IS that place??? I really really wanna find it!)

Four bloggers you are tagging:
um... I don't know 4 bloggers, so I'll tag 3

Valerie
Laura
Lauri

Whoo Hoo!

2006-01-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

Hope you like the new look of the blog! Thanks to some helpful folks (Michelle at Digiscrappin' for pointing me to thedigichick forums, and Robin's helpful post there) I have figured out how to change the header at the top of the blog! Yippee! Now I don't have to switch to Typepad and spend money for my ramblings LOL

The new header is made from my upcoming valentines kit (as of yet untitled LOL). Not sure if it's going to be up for sale or if it will be selected at a Digital Freebies Club kit (fingers crossed) but regardless it will be "out there" soon!

Not much going on here...15 days until classes start...YUCK! I am SOOOO not looking forward to going back (have I said that yet?) I'm sure once I get going I'll be ok...but the anticipation and DREAD of it looming over my head is killing me. I've been a big ball of depression lately. Anywho, I'm trying to make it a more positive experience for me...I have promised myself a tablet for the computer, the new Machine Wash filers from Mister Retro, and Dan is hopefully going to be conspiring with some people to get me a new Digital SLR camera. (trying to get everything I want NOW, so I don't have to go back next year LOL)

Piper has 2 teeth now, and they are really starting to become visible when she smiles (before they could have easily been confused with drool). Going to try to get a few photos soon of her little tooths :)

One thing I have to look forward to is Dan and I are (FINALLY) going to go see Harry Potter 4. I am about to pee my pants in joy! We were supposed to go on Sunday, but Dan had a bike show, and Holly, who was going to watch Piper, had to stay home and take care of Dan's grandma who has pneumonia and might have had to be rushed to the hospital if she didn't start getting better (which she did, and is doing much better today). SO Dan is taking the day off on Thursday so we can go to the movies. I am SO looking forward to seeing it, but not at all looking forward to the first time I have to leave Piper with someone other than Dan. BUT better to practice now, when it's OK if I cry the whole way to and from the theater, than on my first day of class, where I will look like a lunatic if I cry the whole way to and from the school.

So that's my story, and I'm sticking to it :P

Is the world IQ going down???

2006-01-04T16:54:00.000-05:00

Or am I a stupid people magnet?? OK so maybe he wasn't a stupid person, but he certainly had to common sense of a flea... here's the story

The last time we had a snow storm, Dan called a plow guy. "Yeah sure, I'll come out today" and he never showed. So Dan called him the next day, and he came out, plowed the driveway, and snow blew (what the heck is the past tense of snow blow? snow blew? snow blow-ed?) the sidewalk. So he was a bit of a guido (LOL) and wore WAY too much cologne, but he charged $35 instead of $60, so we were happy.

So we have another big snowstorm. ~2 inches on New Years Eve, and about 4 more yesterday. So Dan calls the plow guy again "Yeah I'll be out at 8pm" So 8pm comes and goes, no plow guy, no big surprise. We figured he'd show today. Dan goes to bed around 10, I follow around 10:30, and Piper was sound asleep.

I wake up at 12:20am, no big surprise, I wake up all the time... but this was a different wake up. Then I hear the dog bark...a low quiet kind of bark, so I assumed he was having a dream...it happens...

And then he barks again...louder. And again...Louder. At this point I got up to tell him to shut up. I got halfway down the hallway in my pajamas (read: skin tight tank top to hold on my nursing pads, and underwear), look up at the side door and SCREAM. There is a man standing at my door, at 12:20 am. Now he was looking down so I couldn't see his face, but his size and jacket looked approximately like my brother in law. So I go back into the bedroom, and wake Dan up "There's a man at the door, it might be Matt, so since he's your brother, you get to go take care of it"

By this time the dog is barking up a FIT and Piper has woken up (between the dog barking and me screaming who could blame her?)

Dan comes back into the bedroom. Nope it wasn't Matt, it was the plow guy. He thought it would be better for him to come tonight, since Dan had to go to work in the morning, than to wait until tomorrow to come. Yes, the plow guy ACTUALLY thought that it was BETTER to show up at someone's house after midnight to plow, than to come in the morning. So not only did he wake up my whole house, and scare the living bejesus out of me...BUT he then proceeded to plow my driveway, AND use 2 gas powered snow blowers to do the sidewalk, so he probably woke up the whole neighborhood too...

OK, so what kind of MENTAL GIANT thinks it's a good idea to come to plow someone's driveway after midnight??? And if he does think it's OK, why doesn't he take the hint that no one is awake when ALL THE LIGHTS ARE OFF in the house?

Needless to say, a different plow guy will be called the next time we have a snowstorm.

And hopefully Dan's insurance will cover my therapy for the nightmares I am sure to have about people breaking into the house for the next few weeks!

My Inner Funky Hair Color

2005-12-20T22:30:00.000-05:00

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind.

You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

2005-12-06T14:42:00.000-05:00

Actually it's not all that bad, a bit chilly, but not cold enough to keep the snow from melting.

I have a new kit up at Digital Freebies and I love it SO MUCH that I had to come brag about it here! It's a Christmas kit, but it's Not Your Typical Christmas Kit (hence the name) because the colors are bright and cheery. This kit is just so much fun, I just love it (if I don't say so myself).

So here it is:
(click the image for purchasing :) )
Isn't it just too cute!! OK I'll stop tooting my horn LOL

Have another one in the works...called Brrrr...

All's well in CT today! Ania is home from Poland, and is coming over tomorrow for a visit! I can't wait! I haven't seen her since Piper was 2 weeks old!!! Hopefully she'll be in a stamping mood, because I need some motivation to get some christmas cards in the works, and stamping with Ania is always good motivation. Next week Pip and I are headed to her (inlaws) house to bake cookies. I lurve Ania's gingerbread cookies, they are SO yummy!

This week I want to get some pictures of Piper in her Christmas dresses (yes plural... I wanted her to be able to be in something comfortable for the inlaws x-mas to do, but I also wanted pictures of her in a frilly dressy dress, so I bought 2, one frilly, and one comfy, and Dan bought her xmas pj's that we'll put her in on Xmas eve night). Speaking of christmas, if anyone is wondering what to get me (I sure hope Santa reads my blog), I made this layout: Dear Santa (mom I know you read this and that wasn't a hint, you bought the bathroom!!!)

Well that's about it from me today. Off to work some more on the kit, and an add-on to the kit above that will be a secret freebie at Digital Freebies, so if you want it, make sure you're signed up for the newsletter!

Hope your holi is jolly!

ETA: I forgot to mention, all my stuff is 30% off at Digital Freebies until the 24th of Dec! Snap it up now while the gettin's good :)

Oh where oh where has my blogging time gone?

2005-11-28T10:52:00.000-05:00

OK, so Piper now naps 1-2 times a day, for maybe an hour each time if I am lucky. In the past month so far I have created 27 (count them TWENTY-SEVEN) layouts, not including the 3 ATCs and the 2 page layout for a circle journal that I can't post. I have spent over 3weeks on-and-off waiting for a plumber. Plus 2 mini kits, and 2 (or 3 I can't remember) full size kits, and have 3 more kits in the works. PHEW!

OK so here's the quick update:

4 month check-up: 14lb 3.5oz, 25 inches, 3 more shots - but the fever only lasted 2 days this time. Piper can sit almost all by herself, and can pull up to sitting by holding on to your fingers. Her vocabulary is MASSIVE (lol) including such things as aahhheee, bwahhh, and a razzing sound

I am down another 2 pounds, and my non-maternity non-real-size pants are starting to get too big. Still nowhere near my real size, but there you have it! I am NOT AT ALL looking forward to going back to work in January, it is the ABSOLUTE last thing I want to do. BUT I have to. So off I go, 2 times a week, to teach students physiological psychology while they whine that it's too hard and too much information...

Did anyone download the freebie I put up for halloween? I'd love to hear what you think about it! Its funny, I give away mini kits at Digital Freebies for completing challenges, and I sell stuff there, and mini kits for ScrapMommies, but I hardly ever get any feedback on my kits (other than DH telling me how wonderful I am, and the occasional PM that someone likes this freebie) so if you use one of my kits, I'd love to hear about it! PM me on one of the sites (Digital Freebies, ScrapMommies, RAKscraps, SBB)

Alrighty, Pip is waking up...oohhh, I almost got an hour this time!!

Off to Whole Foods to get some baby food (she started "solids" on Saturday with some Sweet potatoes...she likes it, she really likes it LOL)

Happy Halloween

2005-11-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

OK so it's a couple of days late, but Happy Halloween nonetheless :) For those of you digi scrappers out there, the "card" above was made with my Wicked Cool Halloween kit from Digital Freebies, and if you happen to be reading this and need a cool word art for your halloween layouts, you can download a freebie from me at this link : http://s42.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=36ZZFUHOF8S6T35FPPFUR96OYU This will be available for 7 days...after that it goes bye bye :)

It's been a little crazy around here... our basement flooded twice in a week. The second time so badly we had to have the carpet removed. Piper is getting VERY big. The child weighs a TON and of course is still too small to get around on her own, which means that mama has to haul her butt around everywhere, and lately that means everywhere I go. If I leave the room she HOWLS, so unless I want to hear her screaming until I return to where she is, I have to take her with me. So she lays on the bed while I fold clothes, she sits in her bouncer on the kitchen floor while I make dinner...you get the idea...

And it's that time of year again! Fall...yes, but not what I am thinking about. It's time to get your spring classes! Ugh... I SO don't want to go back to work. I have no desire to deal with students. Especially freshmen...I am so hoping that I don't get any intro classes. Right now I only have one class, a physio class (thank god, my favorite), am still shopping for some evening or on-line classes, but haven't gotten any yet.

I am considering becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, make a little money, save on my stamp addiction... just not sure *how* much I would make, versus how much I would spend...

Well the Pipster is getting rowdy, so I should go feed her. You know I wasn't sure if I was going to like breast feeding, but it's so darned convenient...no warming, no sterilization...it's just right there ready whenever!

I sold stuff I sold stuff LA LA LA LA LA LA!

2005-10-05T16:16:00.000-04:00

OK today was my first "paycheck" from my digital kits at www.digitalfreebies.com, and I sold stuff! I sold 2 kits and an alpha for a grand total of $10 and change after the commission fee! YIPPEEE! This was only from half a month's worth of "selling" and I know a few of the Creative Team members took my kits as their assignments this month, so that mean that more layouts will be posted with my kits, which means more people will see them which means more people will (hopefully) buy them! Regardless...I made $10!!! I suddenly feel rich! OK so maybe not rich, but $10 richer LOL

My next kit is called "Piper's Shirt", because I was sitting at the computer with her in the bouncer next to me and I wanted to make something but didn't have any ideas, and I looked down at her shirt which had orange, coral, and light pink flowers, and BAM a kit was brought to life. Well partially at least...still have a lot more things to make for it before it is finished!

After that is "Hit the Mute Button" dedicated to Dan who can't stand to listen to commercials. The colors in the kit are all very muted tones, so I thought it was an appropriate title.

It's Official...I'm Old

2005-10-03T15:12:00.000-04:00

OK, for a while now I have suspected that I am aging. Kind of a hindsight thing...I don't feel like I'm aging, but all of a sudden I am in my LATE twenties, not the MID twenties anymore...when the heck did that happen.

So I haven't colored my hair in a long long time... we were TTC for 7 months before I got pg (9 months) and Piper is 2.5 months old, so it has been at least 18.5 months since I have colored my hair...which I think is a world record for me. The significance of this is that I am currently sporting my real hair color, a sight previously unseen in my adult years. So a few days ago, I am checking out my hair color, and what do I spy? A blonde hair. OK so it wasn't a blonde hair, it was gray... my first gray hair. No big deal! Right? I have plenty of reasons to have "blonde" hairs...time in the lab, PhD, having a baby, no job... plenty of things to get "blonde" hairs over. OK so I can deal with the "blonde" hair.

Then yesterday we are in the car headed to the Berlin Fair, and Dan reaches over and grabs what he thinks is a dog hair hanging off my chin, and pulls. And it doesn't come off. The darn thing is ATTACHED! YIPES! So I start feeling around and sure enough...there is a really long hair sticking off my chin...and it's "blonde". So I plucked it with lightning speed and instructed Dan to never speak of it again. So the blonde hair I can handle...but a "blonde" CHIN hair is a bit much... it's official... I am no longer a kid.

2 month check up

2005-09-14T15:26:00.000-04:00

OMG my baby is 2 months old...ok not really for another 3 days, but she had her 2 month check up Monday!

She is now: 11lb 7.5oz; 22.5in long...EEP! Mind you that's half a pound and half an inch shy of being too big for 0-3 month clothes. But she's still "practically perfect in every way"! Poor thing got 3 shots (5 vaccinations) and ran a fever until about midnight last night. But her shot spots are not red anymore, and no fever all day today, and she is awake and alert just like before, so I am pretty sure she is all good. We also found out that the scaly-ness on her head is cradle cap, and I need to wash her hair with Head and Shoulders (basically, my 2 month old has dandruff...no dark clothes for her LOL, just kidding). So while I was at the grocery store I was gong to pick up the Head and Shoulders, and thought I should check the baby aisle, maybe there is special baby formulated Head and Shoulders, or some special cradle cap shampoo. So I find the "Gerber Complete Cradle Cap Kit", great I think... and then I look at the size of the box...tiny, and the price, $10.99, and the contents: scalp oil, comb, regular baby shampoo, scalp cream. So basically a whole lot of nothing as I already have a comb and regular baby shampoo. So I go to the regular shampoo aisle and have my choice of sizes of bottles of H&S. The smallest one, which seemed appropriate as she has a very small head, and very small shoulders, was $3.99. And the bottle that was over 3 times that size was $5.99. So of course the frugal shopper in me buys the ginormous one. All I have to say is Dan or I better get dandruff, or there is NO WAY I am ever going to finish this bottle of shampoo. Some days that frugal shopper needs to shut up and let me buy the SENSIBLE one, not the cheap one!

edited to add: it just occured to me...why do they call it Head and Shoulders? Are there people out there that are so hairy that they actually have to shampoo the dandruff out of their shoulder hair??? eeewwwwwww!

In addition to Piper's 2 month check-up, I have also had my 2-month check up. Actually it was supposed to be a 6 week check-up, but my original appointment got cancelled, and I saw her last week. Turns out I am already 3 pounds lighter than I was at 8 weeks pregnant. WHOO HOO! Unfortunately, my pre-pg jeans don't fit, neither do my pre-pg shirts (thanks to the milk truck that is currently residing in my chest). So apparently I lost weight in areas that do not effect how my clothes fit...Like my ankles, and elbows...certainly not my waist, boobs, or chins (yes I still have several) So as I sit here typing on this I am *happily* snacking on chocolate rice cakes. Of course I doubt they are still considered diet food if you polish off the whole bag in one sitting.

Last bit o' interesting news, my digital kits are going to be being sold in a consignment shop online! I sent in my first kit today, hopefully it will be up by tomorrow! So when it is there it will be here: http://www.digitalfreebies.com/store/ Just look for my name :) It is (of course) pink and brown... The next one in the works is an All about Boys kit (you'd think I'd be making girly kits but I had an idea so I had to run with it LOL), after that I have one that is tentatively titled "new kit" as I can't think of anything witty for it! Since the shop only charges a commission if you sell something I'm not out any money by putting stuff up, I just hope people like my stuff and buy it! (though not too much as if I make more than $600 theyhave to report it to the IRS...)

Well I have run out of rice cakes, so I guess I should stop typing.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Things I was not told about having a baby

2005-08-30T14:23:00.000-04:00

OK, maybe I was told some of them at some point, but mommy-brain has eliminated them from my memory!

Nursing makes your armpits itch. Alright maybe it's not true for everyone, but darn it, it is true for me... oh and nursing is NOT making the pounds magically melt off like I was promised.
Breast-fed baby poop looks alarmingly like spicy deli mustard, the grainy kind (which I will never be able to eat again).
Mommies become obsessed with poop...both baby's and your own. The only adult conversations I have had in weeks were about whether or not the baby had pooped, how much the baby had pooped in any given day, or if I had happened to poop that day how much my butt hurt and where the hell was my hemorrhoid cream.
Schedules are a JOKE! I was told the child would wake every 2 hours for a feeding...yeah right! Just when we get in the swing of every 2 hours, she'll sleep for 5 leaving me quite uncomfortable in the chest area. Then all of a sudden she wants to eat every hour. Not to mention "sleeping" for 2 hours at a time ACTUALLY means she sleeps for about 15 min and the other 1hr 45min in between feedings is spent trying to get her to sleep or trying to keep her asleep (at the cost of all other things...including MY sleep).
Sleep when the baby sleeps is a load of crap. Period. If I could do this, all my problems would magically disappear, but there is a reason we sleep at night and not during the day, it's because it's cooler and darker at night, and no amount of convincing can tell my body otherwise.
Asking for help is not always helpful, when the help buys all the wrong things or puts everything away in the wrong places. I still can't find half of my underwear that my mother-in-law put away for me after doing our laundry while we were in the hospital. One would think that it ended up in the underwear drawer with all of my other underwear, but it's not there. Apparently I have another underwear drawer lurking somewhere in the house that I have yet to discover...I haven't looked in the kitchen yet...hmmmm
Everyone told me that upon leaving the hospital I would still look 5 months pregnant and continue to look so for a little while. Everyone forgot to remind me (preggo and mommy brain at work) that 5 months pregnant was that point in time when maternity clothes were far too big, and regular clothes were far too small.
Every baby has colic. My baby is a perfect angel 90% of the time, the other 10% she is squalling as if you were stabbing her with a red hot poker, and there is nothing I can do about it. Daddy on the other hand can quiet her down in a millisecond. Great when daddy is home, hell on earth when he is not. And of course it doesn't always happen at the same time each day (see #4 above), even though the book says that it should.
Swings, bouncers, activity centers are not "neglect-o-matics" as so many people call them. They are sanity savers. If I didn't have my swing and bouncer, I would have no hair left.
Love. Everyone told me how much I would love my baby. But no one came close to explaining to me how much I would love my baby. I love my husband with every ounce of my being, and somehow I love my daughter more.

I am not sure that I could (would) ever go through the ordeal of having a baby again, but I cannot imagine my life without my angel, and I can't remember (thank you hormones) what it was like before she was here. Being pregnant was pretty much awful, and giving birth was absolute hell, but I don't regret it for a second. I love my Piper more than words can express.

First Day Alone!

2005-08-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

OK I really thought that being all alone with the baby was going to be absolutely terrifying. I was really nervous. But things are going really well. We have gotten into a routine in the past few days. Piper has some time in the morning where she stays awake between feedings, and the rest of the day she pretty much naps. She has a "rough time" of night at about 5:30-6 every night where she gets really fussy, acts hungry, but screams when you feed her, etc. But it doesn't last all that long. Right now she is napping in her crib, though she is starting to make noise in there so it might not last much longer...

Yesterday we went out all by ourselves to Staples, I managed to get the car seat in and out, attach and detach it from the stroller, and not have a panic attack while driving with her in the back seat. I was pretty darn proud of myself (it's the little things...). I was going to attempt the grocery store today, but I am a bit tired, and think I'd rather nap :)

Tomorrow Dan has a haircut, and Pip and I are going with. His stylist is itching to see the baby. Just hope her feeding schedule corresponds with the haircut time!

She's here!!!

2005-07-20T09:08:00.000-04:00

Whew! What a week! I started having contractions at 10pm on Saturday night, we got to the hospital at 1am sunday. Had some Stadol and went all loopy...did NOTHING for the pain, but made me not care as much about it. I kept saying really goofy things, which I am sure Dan will continue to remind me of for years to come! Finally got an epidural, which got rid of the pain of the contractions, BUT left me with the most incredible urge to push...at 5 cm dilation...YIKES. SO I spent 3 hours trying NOT to push with every contraction. Had a really bad reaction to the bladder catheter, so that had to go (thank GOD they agreed to take it out, I was in so much pain). Epidural started wearing off, but all anesthesia docs were in an emergency, so it took them a good 2 hours to come back and reinforce it. Meanwhile...trying not to push... When I was fully dilated, the nurse called in the doc, I pushed for 7 min and out popped my beautiful girl. The downside of it going so quickly was there was no time for a proper episiotomy, SO, I am stitched up in a few spots, and not all that comfy... I know I really lucked out in the pushing dept, but honestly, I was probably inadvertently pushing while trying not to for 3 hours, so that probably hhelped her move down.
OK so enough of the gory details! Here's my munchkin!!!
Piper Kenna, 7lb 6 oz, July 17th

5 days to go...

2005-07-14T14:03:00.000-04:00

I am starting to seriously doubt that I am going to have this baby early! According to the doctor yesterday I was "officially" not dilated, though the "outside" end of my cervix had started to open, the inside end had not. It has begun to thin a bit, but not enough to call it an "official change". However the doctor did say that she hoped she wouldn't see me at my next appointment, next wednesday, so that gave me a little hope. But the bambino is still head down, which is good, and I got another size esitmate of 6.5lbs, so either Dr. Brooks last time gave me a final size estimate rather than an "at this time" size estimate, Dr. Lope de Haro doesn't know what she is talking about, or my child has not grown in a month (which is not the case). But then again, size estimates are not to be trusted at all, as they are almost always wrong, and in either direction.

And I thought I was antsy a few weeks ago... I am downright climbing the WALLS now! I am trying really hard not to do too much, but it's almost impossible. The more I lay down the more I think about when the baby is going to come and the more it stresses me out, etc. etc. So I am reading a lot, as many non-pregnancy-related books as I can. Watching a whole lot of TV, and sleeping... but I am still going batty! Today I have stamped the final curtain, painted a watercolor for the baby's room wall, done 2 loads of laundry, and am contemplating the dishes, though I am not sure my back can take it. And it's only 2pm!!!

Alrighty, I should lie down for a bit...then maybe I'll tackle the dishes!

Nothing to report...

2005-07-09T09:43:00.000-04:00

Just sitting here, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for my child to decide to make an appearance! (I appreciate that I am still 9 days from my due date...but I am absolutely CONVINCED that I am going to go early) Braxton-Hicks have picked up the past few days, having some almost every day, though not as long of bouts as before. Yesterday they were off and on for most of the day until about midnight or so. Definately starting to get antsy. Looked up "natural labor inducers" on the web yesterday...no real good news. Basically everything that everyone suggests doesn't have any shred of proof that it works. My favorite was castor oil, a few teaspoons a few times a day. The reasoning was it will cause your bowels to cramp and you to have diarrhea, which will in turn cause the uterus to have "sympathy contractions"... I almost fell out of my chair...my uterus is going to have SYMPATHY contractions for my bowels??? That was a little too new-agey even for me. Many of the midwives/doulas on the sites suggested visualization exercises in which you visualize yourself talking to your baby and asking him/her why they have decided not to come yet. While it is true (scientifically) that the baby does send the hormone signal to the mother to begin labor, I think that discussing with your unborn child WHY they have DECIDED not to come is a BIT too far-fetched for me as well... So I will continue on with the not-so-loony-sounding methods, such as walking, and stair climbing. If my uterus wants to have sympathy contractions, it's just going to have to do it without castor oil!

It's official!

2005-07-04T08:10:00.000-04:00

The baby has dropped...repeat...the baby has dropped! Confirmed by side by side photo comparison, the baby is officially "much lower" than she was before (hasn't been confirmed by the doctor yet but photos don't lie). The dropping in question occured at 9pm on Saturday night. I was having Braxton-Hicks (big surprise there...) and decided it was time to walk. Walking usually makes them feel better. Dan came around to help me stand up, and as I was in the process of standing I had the absolute WORST pain in my lower abdomen, this horrible stretching pulling pain. I, of course, sat back down. Once it went away and I stood up, the butt lump was gone from under my boobs and had dropped a good 3-4 inches down, and my lower belly then felt MUCH heavier. We have been looking forward to the dropping for a while now, as it is supposed to alleviate breathing problems, make eating easier, and signal that the baby is coming. Well... it hasn't really alleviated breathing problems, especially not when laying down, just gave her more room to stretch her legs out and get underneath my lungs. I think I definately ate more yesterday than I have been able too, so I guess that's true. And according to the book, in a first pregnancy, dropping can occur right before, or up to 4 weeks before delivery...helpful! At this point if I have to wait 4 more weeks (2 weeks past my due date) I am going to give birth to a 15 lb baby...NO THANK YOU! Other downfalls to the dropping... stairs suck! Going up stairs has become nearly impossible, going down isn't that much fun either but at least I have forward momentum helping. I can't sleep again for 2 reasons, lack of a good position (the belly is completely different now so I have to figure out again how to get comfortable) and constant dreams about my water breaking (and therefore constant wakenings to check and see if my water has broken). Another downfall, hemorrhoids...'nuff said. And my lower belly feels so much heavier. Good thing, munchkin definately has more room and has become quite active again, still just squirming, not a lot of kicks anymore...which is a good thing, if she'd kick she'd probably kick right through at this point!

Yesterday was the 4th of July party at MIL's. The usual...the 10 of us go to Holly's, sit in the back yard, eat the same food we had 2 weeks ago at the Father's Day party, Dave and Kathleen talk about how horrible Devlin is right in front of him. Everyone babies Amber to the point that she has become a whiny crying infant anytime she doesn't get her way (for example, she got out of a chair to go play, I sat down in said chair, and she cryed and threw a fit, so much so that she tripped up the stairs and actually bumped her legs and then started actually crying). My child will not be babied. When she falls (assuming she is not really hurt) we will pick her up, dust her off, tell her she is OK, and send her back out. None of this "oh you poor thing are you ok let me see oh you poor little girl" crap. They have completely made Amber into a helpless, hopeless little being who can do absoultely nothing for herself (she cried for 20 min yesterday because her hotdog was on a bun and not cut up like she wanted it, and she can't cut it up herself...she's 8). I refuse to let this happen to my daughter. She will be strong, she will be independent, she will be in charge of her own actions, and she will take resposibility for them (once she is old enough to understand of course). And they want to have more kids...lord help us!

Pregnancy dreams

2005-06-30T10:38:00.000-04:00

All the books tell you that weird dreams are to be expected during pregnancy, and I have definately had my share. In the last month of your pregnancy, the books say that dreams about birth and motherhood, waiting for the baby, resposibilities of being a parent, you baby's face, etc. are all very common dreams...

So where does the dream that Dan (who didn't actually look like Dan, he looked like Lew, the guy I dated all through college) decided that he didn't want to be with me anymore, so I decided that the best way for that to happen was to poison myself by eating dog treats (because dog treats are poisonous...right??? ROFL) come in to play? Which category does THAT one fit in? Or last night's dream, where even though I was married (to Joey McIntyre from NKOTB...ok so I have been watching Dancing with the Stars and he's still just as hot, but it must not have been the best marriage, as he was also married to someone else...), I was dating these 2 guys who were best friends (who happened to be the 2 guys that Phoebe from Friends was dating at the same time, the kindergarten teacher, and the fireman...yummy), and I was breaking up their friendship so I told them that I couldn't date either one of them (but the fireman still helped me chop down the weird flower plants that were growing out of my tree in the backyard). Or the one early this morning where I was making out with Chief O'Brien from Star Trek the Next Generation... (now THAT was just odd...it wasn't even Commander Riker, or someone cute!) Someone please tell me, which parenting anxiety dream categories these fit into??? Why can't I have the normal "I left the baby at the grocery store" dreams...or the "I have the baby and she looks like Spock" dreams?

Yesterday was Ania's Ph.D. defense. She made it through with flying colors, as I knew she would. MIL went with me, just in case. It was a good thing...I started having more Braxton-Hicks on the way home and she took over driving. So now that I have made it through Ania's defense, it's time to get this baby moving! Spicy food, long walks, you name it, I'm up for it! Dan and I noticed that I have my worst bouts of Braxton-Hicks when he's home, so we figure he had a 4 day weekend this weekend, this must be when the real labor is going to happen, since he will be home...see the baby is just trying to put us through the least amount of stress possible and is waiting until we are both at home and ready before she makes her appearance. Next doctors appt is next wednesday...I keep feeling like I am missing this week's since I had to change it because of the defense, I woke in a panic this morning (Chief O'Brien still in my head) thinking I had overslept and slept through my appointment...

Oh and a funny story...this happened a while ago but I keep forgetting to post it... I was having Braxton-Hicks (big surprise there huh...) and Dan was helping me breathe (meaning that he breathes the way I am supposed to breathe, and then I guess the point is I am somehow supposed to match his breathing or something...) so anyways he's breathing in for 4, out for 4...but he had just eaten a bowl of Recees Peanut Butter Puff cereal, and he is blowing 4 counts of peanut butter breath in my face. I looked right at him and said, "That's not helping, it's stinky" we got a good long laugh about that one, after the contraction subsided. Since then, he doesn't breathe with me anymore...or if he does, he faces away... He likes to bring that up to make me giggle and take my mind off of the contractions or back pain, or whatever is ailing me at that moment. (he's also particularly fond of the first trimester story, when I got out of the car, got halfway up the porch steps, and threw up in the yard because I couldn't make it into the bathroom... for what ever reason we both find this story extremely hysterical and it usually makes me laugh for a good 10 min...must be the way he tells it)

I have been tagged by Valerie!

2005-06-26T17:14:00.000-04:00

(and its a good thing too, as I have nothing to add here today other that it's hotter than hades here and I am miserable :) )

1. Total Number of Books Owned: Oh good lord, I haven't the slightest clue! Probably well over 300 or 400, with an additional 100 or so textbooks/research books/reference books

2. Last Book Bought: personally: Janet Evanovich "To the Nines", though I have Harry Potter 6 on pre-order, and will be heading out to my nearest Walden soon for Janet Evanovich's "Ten Big Ones" (or whatever that is called). Mom just sent me the final 2 books in the Sweet Potato Queens book series (if you haven't read these books, drop what you are doing NOW and go to your local library or bookstore and get the first, "Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love" by Jill Conner Browne, and just make sure you have nothing better to do for the rest of the day than read a book and laugh your ass off)

3. Last Book Read: God Save the Sweet Potato Queens, Jill Conner Browne (second in the series, not QUITE as funny as the first, but still a must read). Was in the process of "Babyville" by Jane Green, but got bored and depressed (i.e. sign of a bad novel...I didn't read it in less than 2 days LOL), so I stopped reading it and started "Sweet Potato Queens Big Ass Cookbook (and financial planner)"

4. 5 books that mean a lot to me: ooh, this is a toughie... lets see...

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (book 1 Chronicles of Narnia), by CS Lewis. A classic series of books that will always be my favorites. Reminds me of my childhood (my copy of this book is battered I read it so much).

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield (though the rest of the Celestine series was awful), very "spiritual" book without being religious. Reminds you to be in tune with the world, rather than tuning out (which is oh so easy to do).

A Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy, Vicki Iovine. Absolutely hysterical, the only way I managed to get through my first trimester of nausea sane. (Diary of a Mad Mom-to-Be...I think that's what it was called, also helped)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (first in the series) by JK Rowling. OK so I love each of these books as much as the one before, but the first will always hold a special place in my heart.

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Never before have I seen a man be able to write a female character so accurately. Some passages it's as if he was walking around in my head. (His other novel "I Know This Much is True" is excellent as well)

OK so I am sure this last question was supposed to bring out some inner feelings about deep, serious novels, but I can't think of ANY! My mind must be in a happy, fluffy place at the moment...probably because I am so darned hot and thinking was causing my brain to overheat, resulting in the reverting back to a less intelligent state so as to use less energy and survive... Either that or I haven't ever read a life-altering book... (and I figured it would be far too dorky to list David Grilly's "Drugs and Behavior" textbook, as it is what pushed me toward psychopharmacology as a career, but that would be admitting that I had actually READ a textbook...) I love books, I read like a fiend, and when I find an author I like, I read everything I can get my hands on by them. This has been true for Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, Nicci French, Sue Miller, Anita Shreve, Jennifer Crusie, Janet Evanovitch, John Grisham, and others I am sure that I am forgetting

So I don't know that many people that blog so I tag Lauri

Other than that...nothings doing around here... OB appt tomorrow (come on cervical progress!!!)

I really hope I never meet Mr. Braxton-Hicks...

2005-06-24T10:30:00.000-04:00

actually I am sure he's probably dead or something, but if I ever do meet him I am going to give him a piece of my mind. Alright I know it's not his FAULT we have these contractions that do NOTHING for labor progression, but did he have to be so darned self-centered and name them after himself??? Who wants to think about some old male doctor while they are having pointless, painful contractions? And they are so darned frustrating. Every time I start having them I get all excited thinking "this might be it" and then NOTHING.

Spent 6-9pm last night in the throes of a full out Braxton-Hicks attack. They are getting quite a bit more intense and painful every time I have them. But they are SO irregular, last night they started out about 8 min apart, then started slowing to 12 min or so, then all of a sudden 5 in a row at 5 min apart, and then 14 min and then 20... Last night I found that walking helped, they weren't quite as intense when I was walking, so I waddled in circles around the kitchen with Dan following close behind. Poor Max thought we were nutty, watched us for a while, and then went and laid down in the basement. For a while there I thought we were going to have a slow moving conga line in the kitchen, me in the lead, Dan following close behind, and Max behind him trying to figure out why we were walking in circles. Must have been a sight!

Our cord blood donation kit came in the mail yesterday. Umbilical cord blood contains tons of stem cells that can be used for transplantation to save people from things like leukemia and other blood and bone marrow diseases, and might hold the key to cures for other disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. It is collected after the cord is cut, from the side of the cord that is attached to the placenta, so there is no risk to baby or mom for the procedure. Basically there are 3 things you can do with cord blood...1) privately bank it (for a $1500+ initial storage fee and yearly banking fees) so that you have it in case you or your children need it, 2) toss it out with the placenta, or 3) donate it to a public bank where it may be used as a transplant for someone that needs it and/or for research to determine what else the stem cells might be used to treat and cure. Dan and I talked a lot about it, I really wanted to save it, but we are not at high risk (nor are our children) for any of the diseases treated by the stem cells, nor did we have the money for the upfront fee right now, so we had a hard time justifying private banking. So we decided than rather than let these potentially incredibly valuable cells go to waste, we would find a way to donate them. So we found a public bank that accepts donations, and filled out all appropriate paperwork. It's so gratifying knowing that something so often thrown away without a second thought, is going to be headed off to potentially save a life (if used in a transfustion) or save many many many lives (if used in research). Feels good to "do my part" so to speak. You never know who you might pass on the street one day who's life was just saved because of the gift my child gave long before she was aware of what that gift meant. And the donation process took so little effort, you fill out a health questionnaire, send it in, and if approved, you get the donation kit, and the docs and nurses at the hospital take care of everything else. The only thing is I will have to have blood drawn for an HIV test, but women in labor usually have an IV line in anyways, so no additional needle sticks for me even. Such little effort for such huge potential gains. I wish more people knew about dontation (most docs only give you information about private banking, and private banks don't advertise public donation procedures, and most public banks don't have the money or resources to fund advertising like the private banks do, I found out about donation through a pregnancy/parenting message board). OK off my soapbox :)

Not much going on...

2005-06-23T09:05:00.000-04:00

No progress on the labor front...one more week and spicy food and long walks here I come :) Will have to look up all of the other "old wives tales" for speeding up labor. Dan's grandma told me to crawl upstairs backwards...um, is it the crawling upstairs backwards that starts the labor, or is it the fall down the stairs that does it???

Saw this on Valerie's blog and thought it was fun

You Are From Mercury

You are talkative, clever, and knowledgeable - and it shows.
You probably never leave home without your cell phone!
You're witty, expressive, and aware of everything going on around you.
You love learning, playing, and taking in all of what life has to offer.
Be careful not to talk your friends' ears off, and temper your need to know everything.

What Planet Are You From?

Certainly does sound like me...