~small girl, big thoughts~

This photo was taken on our trip to Northern Iowa one week before B. turned two.  I took the photo because I thought she looked sooo tiny on the big steps of the farmhouse.  She was coming out of the house, and I'm pretty sure she was looking for the two of us.  We were at a family reunion and so there were many, many new people and most of our trip she stayed pretty close to us, or Grandma and Grandpa. When I saw this week's sketch over at Sketchy Thursdays, I chose this photo as my focus.  Thank you to my Club CK friends for helping with the title!

I used hidden journaling for the first time on this layout!!  Here is the hidden story and then the reveal.

 

Many of the materials are from the October Scrapbook Circle Kit -- Fresh Picked, with a few additions from my personal stash.

~ imagine ~

I'm still home from work.  I wish that I had gotten a D and C instead of trying to let my body take care of it a bit more naturally.  It's been a long and painful process.  I've missed too much work and I'm fairly unmotivated to do anything.  Besides, I can't really do much other than sit around anyway.  Leaves way too much time for thinking...and I'm not even really thinking clearly.  Work and studying is pretty much out.  My brain isn't working properly.

I'm not sure what I would do without my mother right now.  She has been amazingly helpful.  On Monday, she just showed up at my house thinking I shouldn't be alone, and she was right!  I had no idea what I was in for, and I even blacked out on her at one point, falling gracefully at her feet.  Scared her to death! 

I'm also not sure what I would do without my soul mate.  I know he is trying his best to heal as well, and at the same time he has been supportive of me and understanding when I don't get out of my pajamas.  And work hasn't stopped for him, in fact it's been extra busy the last few weeks.  I am so thankful that he is in my life.

Yesterday I stepped outside for a minute or two because I saw that this flower on our deck was blooming and I wanted to try to capture it.

I have been eyeing a few scrapbooking layouts and each day I have gone downstairs to try to do something and most days I've failed - uninspired and my head just isn't there.  I decided to try one that I knew would be fairly easy to scraplift, and I wouldn't have to think too much.  I picked a layout that I discovered through pinterest.  Actually,  I believe I repinned this Allie Hamblin layout from my friend Kirsten who found it originally on Studio Calico's website!  Here's my take on it.

 

Everything except the flower is from the most recent Scrapbook Circle Kit called Fresh Picked, including the Pink Paislee Sawdust Wood Alphabet that I inked with orange and brown stamping pads.  The background paper is called Timeclock from the Memorandum collection by Lillybee Designs.  My favorite paper is the one behind the flower and letter B, it's the Cross Stitch Paper - Farmhouse by Crate Paper.  Right beside it is Random - Textile also by Crate Paper, and the last square in the upper right corner is Simple Joys from the Fresh Goods collection by Pebbles Inc.  (And yes, I actually stitched with the sewing machine around the edges.  I had to change the bobbin and everything)!  Overall, I'm not very happy with how this turned out.  The photo was too dark for the papers I chose, and the stitching didn't go as well as planned, but it was something -- way better than having a pity party!

I used a Picasso quote, "Everything you can imagine is real" for several reasons.  Partly, imagining fits this photo of my daughter in her butterfly wings, but also imagining is hopeful.

~ 11 weeks ~

I was going to wait until week 12 to do my first belly shot (I like even numbers), but The Hereios, a group I'm in over at flickr, had "Reflected Restroom Selfie" as it's theme for today -- so I took it today instead!  The shirt I'm wearing is stretchy.  I'm going to try to wear it for as many of the belly shots as I can.  And, since I did this one in the restroom, I may try to do the others that way as well.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, and I'm hot happy with the actual photo, so maybe not!

I'm growing more quickly than my last pregnancy!  I'm sure this has much to do with the fact that I have no stomach muscles left -- from babies, the kidney donation, as well as the incisional hernia from my last pregnancy.  There's nothing left to hold it all in, so I popped quite quickly even though I've actually lost a little weight.  I think I'm going to have to break down and buy maternity clothes earlier rather than later.  Until then, I have the bellaband to help out (I would die without it).

The GD is still kicking my butt.  I continue to be over emotional and distracted by what to eat, when to eat and how to get exercise in.  Bleh.  But on Friday, I should get to hear the heartbeat!

What about craftiness, you ask?  What have I been up to in that area?  I'm not sure what I am thinking, but I ordered some PUL fabric and a book about how to make really cool cloth diapers.  I am not finding time to do anything crafty, I'm barely taking photos, and I'm not a person that sews.  I had to look up PUL fabric online so I would even know what it was.  So..uhh...what was I thinking?  I guess I wasn't.

I did get this awesome selection of doodle twine (doodlebug design inc.) in the mail the other day, and I cannot wait to use it!  It has been busy around here with birthdays and stuff, but I'm hoping that I'll find time this weekend to reacquaint myself with the scrapbook area!

But, not before I clean it up.....

My soul mate:  (hollering up the stairs) Uh, was B. downstairs by herself at all yesterday?
Me:  (as I'm walking down the stairs) Um, I'm not sure, I think she was recently, but I'm not sure....
My soul mate:  Look...

This is the floor!

At least she finished the task, right?  Her daddy says this means that she will probably finish college.

~ pools and photos ~

I pretty much completely ripped off this layout from Laura Vegas!

I managed to find two journal spots, and get thirteen photos on this two page layout. This is a good thing because these photos tell several stories (pool, storm, blue nails).


Journaling reads:
July in Iowa requires a pool! We bought a $25, 10x6 pool for us all to cool off in (and a neighbor kid or two). Two days later, it blew away in an unpredicted, early morning storm. We never found it! It only took a few days of 110 + heat index before we replaced it!

For this journaling I really should put some brads to dot the bullet points or something. I should also add some embellishments to jazz it up a bit. I might at some point. The reality is, I'm back at work and I wanted to get the page finished (I started it on Monday)! The second page journaling reads:
You learned:
to splash and be splashed
to blow bubbles
to front crawl (never mind it was standing)
to kick, kick, kick
that Daddy will do just about anything
~for you~
even paint his toenails blue!

This shows a close up of the toenails. More fun pool photos are here.

Yesterday I attended the first of eight days of 21st Century Learning, a class offered by Grant Wood, but housed on our campus. It was interesting and a little fun. One thing that we did was a photography scavenger hunt! We were given guidelines and asked to roam around for a bit to take pictures based on the guidelines. This worked out well for me because I could use the photos for my 365 project! My two favorites...

Assimilate This! (photo of at least three of something with a focus on the first item)

But I think I'll use Cat's Eye View for my photo of the day (if I ever get a chance to upload).

This was the bottom shelf -- what the cat would see.

Today I got a package in the mail! I ordered photos from Snapfish for the first time. I often use Snapfish because they are connected to flickr, but I pick up photos from Walgreens. This time, I took advantage of their 200 photos for $2 special (if you have them sent to you via mail). Two things: The shipping and handling is outrageous! However, it was still cheaper than if I'd picked them up -- but it wasn't only $2! Also, I'm not impressed with the quality. The color seems a bit off and the paper they use is flimsy. I think I'll stick with Walgreens from now on. This is what 200 photos (actually 202) look like:


PS Only a little over a week and a half before the recall elections in Wisconsin!