True Love

I finally have a photo of my sweet brother and his beautiful girlfriend and I couldn't resist scrapbooking them! Aren't they cute together?? After being apart for 10 years, not seeing each other for over 5 years, they finally found each other and are an inspiration to all of us that True Love does exist. I'm so happy for them and can't wait for Holly and her kids to be a part of our family.

I just wanted to share this layout with everyone who visits, since I'm so proud and happy for my little brother.

Love you little bro!

I know it's been awhile since I last posted, but things seem to be crazy like always. Work has been busy, plus Eric left on Monday for Mexico again. Then Monday night I got sick and was feeling like crap all day yesterday. Today I felt better, and was able to be home all day with the kids. Wish I could have relaxed a bit more, but Cole was up to his usual naughty self. We did however have a lot of snuggle time, both this morning before I got up (and Cole watched Little Einsteins) and then this afternoon with all 3 of us on the floor. Cole wanted to be next to his sister and share his blanket with her. He's pretty cute about that. Of curse he then smothered her with kisses and hugs. There will be no shortage of loving for her when it comes to Cole. He just adores having a little sister!

Well I don't really know much else. Just wanted to get this layout of Alexis and I posted. The kit is the newest one from shabbyprincess.com. Thought it was perfect - and PINK!!

Finally - the weekend

It's finally the weekend. :) Even though I was off yesterday it was full of craziness. The dogs had to go to the vet, so I packed up the kids and 3 dogs...went to pick up Eric at work...and then we all headed out to the vet. Eric and Cole took each dog in one at at time while Alexis and I hung out in the back of the Tahoe just cuddling and playing. Cole came out later and Eric went back in with Ghettie - well wouldn't you know Cole wants to go to the bathroom. Not much I could do - I'm in the back of the truck, no shoes on, holding a baby and with two dogs running around. Told him to hold it but that didn't last long..he peed his pants. It was a drama - let me tell you. Eric got him changed and we all headed back to drop Eric off at work. Then I took the now sleeping car full of kids and dogs home. After all of that, I was ready for a nap!

But on the plus side, Meredith came for a visit. She was over on Thursday night and Friday in the morning and afternoon. It's always so nice to see her. She took Cole outside for a bit right before we left for the vet and he loved it.

Then last night I met Eric down at John's bar to attend a farewell party for one of our co-workers. So sad to see him and his family leave - but they have a lot of exciting things to look froward to. We wish them the best!

Finally back home to chat with Mark & Brooke who so graciously watched the kids for us and then off to bed. Whew...

My latest layout is again inspired from my CK Mag. I liked the use of white space and shapes. The photos are from our trip to the Children's museum last weekend. Cole had a fun time - so I'm sure we'll be going back again sometime.

Well I think every onein the house is napping except me - so I'm going to put my computer down and try to get a quick little nap in like everyone else.

Wednesday Morning

My first day off since I started work. It's not to bad only having to work 2 days, then getting a day off to spend with the kids. Right now Cole is playing with his Play-doh and Alexis is sleeping. So I figured I'd get my newest scrapbook page out on my blog. I did it last night, saw a layout in my new Creating Keepsakes magazine and I just had to try it. What do you think? The photo is of Alexis in her baptism gown - which is from Eric's mom's family and probably over 100 years old!

Otherwise I don't really know a whole lot. Today we have Alexis's 2 month check up and then Cole is getting his hair cut with Eric at noon. It will be my first trip out with both the kids by myself, so we'll see how it goes. At least we are meeting Eric for the hair cuts! I wouldn't want to attempt that one on my own!

First day back

Well today was my first day back at work. SOO hard! It's not any easier with your second child to hand them over to someone you don't know and go off to work. I did feel a bit comforted that Cole has been there for 2 years now and we do know most of the teachers...but it's just still SOO hard. Alexis did very well though. I checked in on her in the morning and she was doing great. When we picked her and Cole up they said she was wonderful all day and a great baby.

It was wonderful to have her back in my arms and I didn't want to put her down.

Work went ok, nothing too exciting. You can be gone for 8 weeks and things just keep going on. Took me awhile to get through my 200 some e-mails, but I think I've tackled most of the important ones.

Here's a layout I did the otter day of Alexis smiling. I love the bottom picture, she looks so cute as if to say "you know I'm adorable".

I did get my new Creating Keepsakes magazine and have found some great layouts to scrap-lift...so you'll have to check back.

Have a great evening.

Thursday

Today was my last day at home with just Alexis. I'm going to miss my time alone with her, she's just so sweet and adorable. I think she knew this was the end of our special time and she was a bit demanding wanting to be held a lot today..but I didn't mind.

Also got to sanitize the house since all the sickies are now fully on antibiotics and not contagious. Washed all of Cole's bedding and his entourage of stuffed animals. They are all clean and smell good. I decided to make a good diner tonight of meatballs and mashed potatoes, but had to eat alone with Alexis since Eric and Cole went off on a mystery adventure. I have no idea where they went, but they didn't get home until 7 tong ht. No idea why it's so secret, but whatever. My dinner was wonderful, and now I have left overs for lunch tomorrow.

I did find photos for my blank layout and also completed another layout of Alexis and Nana (my mom). (Kit used is Shabby Secrets by Eve Recinella - www.everecinelladesigns.com)

Wednesday

Today is Christi's 22nd birthday. So we all went out to dinner to celebrate - Myself, Eric, Cole, Alexis, Christi, Mark & Brooke - at the Olive Garden. Dinner was yummy, though Alexis and Cole decided not to be so cooperative. But we all managed to have to good time.
Cole was diagnosed with strep yesterday, though you'd never know it. He's been as energetic and naughty as ever today. I thought I might pull my hair out, of course he will then turn around and be so cute and lovey that it's hard to know how to feel!
He was doing everything from throwing dog food to pouring water out of the tub right onto the floor. And he KNOWS he's being naughty, that's what is so frustrating. Oh well, what can you do, he's two...
So I wanted to scrap-lift this layout out of my Creating Keepsakes magazine, but haven't found the right photos for it yet. So I created the layout without the photos on it. I think it turned out pretty good...now to find the pix for it. (Kit used is Moody Blues by Shabby Princess - www.shabbypricess.com and the is from the March 2007 issue of Creating keepsakes pg 125)

Tuesday Already

Well Eric has been home now for two days with Strep Throat. Christi had it last week, and now Eric. I'm hoping that Cole and I are able to avoid getting it too. So yesterday I took Cole to daycare and then came back home to take care of Alexis and Eric.

At six I went to a Mary Kay meeting/makeover thing for my neighbor Monica. It was nice to get away and get a little pampering. Eric had to hang in there for an hour with the kids until Christi got home from parent teacher conferences. I got back at eight thirty and saw that they all survived. Alexis slept the whole time I was gone! Yesterday was her sleepy day, and so far today she's been awake a lot this morning. Just wanting to coo and talk to me, full of big smiles. She's just so much fun to watch as she discovers new sounds.

Last night I got one new layout created. (kit used is called Fall Color by Ping Designs - www.pingdesigns.com) It's of Cole sleeping in the middle of the living room floor for his nap. I can't believe it was comfortable, but you never can guess what is going through the mind of a two year old!

Sunday

I'm sad to say the weekend is almost over, and that means only one more week until I have to go back to work. :(
Yesterday was beautiful, 45 deg F. So warm that we just had to go and play in the snow. Eric, Cole and myself got our snow gear on and headed out. We made snow balls, had a snow ball fight and did a little sledding. It was wonderful and Cole loved having Mom and Dad all to himself while Alexis slept in the house with Aunt Christi. I'll have to get some photos posted from our adventures. The fresh air and play must have really tuckered Cole out because he fell asleep at the dinner table!

Today was also beautiful. We went to Great Grandma Powell's to celebrate her birthday. Chris, Bill, Sue, Dave, Jake & the kids, Angie, David & Maya were all there. It was fun to see everyone and watch all the kids play. Alexis got a lot of attention of course as she was passed around from one set of arms to the next. Justin wanted to help feed her her bottle, rub her fuzzy head and make sure she had her Nuk. We got home and Cole put his PJs on. It didn't take long until he pointed at the stairs and wanted to go to bed. He can be so funny. Most nights he's fighting not to go to bed, then out of the blue he'll want to go there. No figuring him out.


Here's a layout I just finished of Cole with Nana. They were having fun coloring in Cole's giant coloring book! Nana even got this kiss, caught on camera. (Kit used is Dinner Party by Shabby Princess - Shabbyprincess.com)

Friday

Here's a layout I just finished of Cole and Alexis. (Kits used are Olivis and Festival by Shabby Princess - shabbyprincess.com) He found some address labels - which are "stickers". He started to put them on everything, including his poor little sister. She was covered in them. But on the positive side, we didn't have to worry about losing her since she was covered with our names and address.

If you want a larger view of any of my images/layouts just click on them and it will bring it up as a big picture. You can then read any text or get a closer look at each picture.

Otherwise we didn't do much today. Eric went to work and the kids and I just hung out. Cole is obsessed with his Little Einstein DVD "Our Huge Adventure". It's about a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly and then has to migrate to Mexico with the other Monarch Butterflies. He really likes the classical music and is starting to be able to identify different pieces - but his favorite thing is the little green truck that the caterpillars ride in.

After Eric got home we went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Very YUMMY. Cole made sure we all had the proper number of breadsticks since his is the Bread Stick Gestapo. Alexis was awake the whole time we were there but was content to have a bottle while we waited for our food and then to just have her Nuk and sit on my lap while we ate. After the OG it was off to Best Buy and Target then back home for bath time.That's about it for us today

First Post

OK, so here's my attempt at Blogging. I decided to give this a shot and use it as a location to post all of my digital scrapbook pages and keep everyone up to date on my two wonderful children.

So...here we go.
Today it's just me and Alexis hanging out while Cole is at daycare. I really enjoy having some time alone with her. She's just so sweet, smiling and cooing at me when I talk to her.

Last night Cole only got up one time, YEA!! So I actually got to sleep some. I hope he's finally getting the picture that he needs to stay in his bed in his room. It would be so easy to just give in and let him sleep upstairs, but I would just be asking for more trouble down the road. I'm positive he's just jealous that his baby sister is in my room sleeping with me and he's not.
Yesterday he started to be "sneaky". He would walk up to Alexis all sweet and say Hi, then he'd quickly grab her pacifier out of her mouth, put it in his mouth and run away. It was funny to see him be sneaky and hard not to giggle.

We have to pick Eric up at the airport this afternoone. He's finally back from France. Can't wait to have him back home to help out. :)

Allright, enough babbling and on to the digital scrapbooking.


Here's a layout of Cole from the 2nd of Feb. He had just gotten out of the tub and Nana had him all wrapped up in his duckie towel. He was just too cute and we had to have a photo shoot.

Here's my brother Adam with me and little Alexis. This was taken on Feb 28th right before he left on his 16 hr drive back to Greensboro.