It's That Time of Year!

m E r R y C h R i S t M a S !

My all-time favorite Santa pic...will NEVER, EVER tire of this one!

Just Because

I love these two sOoOoOo much! Aren't they remarkable?

Truly the best things to come out of the past 8 years. I am so thankful to be blessed with a cozy little home, a caring and hard working husband, lovely children, and fabulous extended family members.

Introducing...

Judson!

After just a little nudge, our sweet baby boy was born on Veteran's Day! (11/11/09) He looks much like Scarlett as a newborn and so far has a very sweet temperament too. Those big, fat, kissable cheeks are not deceiving you...he is a little moose, 10lbs. 10oz. and 20.5in.!

The Latest Creation For My Little Muse...

Only a few months in the making! ha ha! Actually, it didn't really take that long. I bought the fabric a couple of years ago, cut it during the summer, and sewed it together as I had time over the last couple of weeks. This fabric reminds me of fall (looks even prettier in real life) and the color looks lovely on Scarlett!

Happy Halloween!

This is our contribution to our ward's trunk or treat, it was a good time and we had fun. While I really do enjoy Halloween, I am not the type of person to go overboard. As Damien said, "Carving pumpkins is not very fun." My response, "Yeah, it's really only fun before hand. Actually doing it kind of sucks!" Granted, Damien picked the biggest possible pumpkin and I had just gutted and carved Scarlett's and was working on mine. The fun of Halloween, truly is the candy...and I'm not talking about tootsie rolls or bit o' honey people!

Seriously, aren't they too cute?

Will Catch Up...Eventually

First of all, I just want to say that I am TOTALLY ignoring that little baby ticker to the right! All along I've kind of allowed myself to believe that I earned the right to have an early baby, since Scarlett was 10 days late and 2 ounces shy of 10 pounds! And besides, I just knew that my body would not hold up until November. Well, without a long explanation I will now say that reality has struck and I am in it for the long hall...despite my complaining, I have been blessed with a body that is holding up and hopefully will produce a big chunky baby boy.

Second, the other night I actually followed through on a whim to go to one of my dear, long time friend's volleyball coaching gig at my old middle school. I tried to talk myself out of it because I was tired/achy/did not have any make-up on, but instead I put my butt in gear, got Scarlett and myself ready and off we went. I am so glad I did! The volleyball girls are far more advanced at that age than in my day, so it was pretty fun to watch, plus they won. Yea Trojans! Also, Scarlett had a blast dancing around and absorbing attention from the crowd...oh yeah and nearly killing me. That's right, I forgot I was pregnant when she darted toward the edge of the court while the girls were playing. I started to "chase" after her, but my gut screamed a big fat "NOOOOO" in the form of a sharp muscle pain causing me to trip on my flip-flops. Thank goodness for my athletic prowess, I was able to avoid a gigantic biff and Scarlett veered away from the court at the last possible moment. So, the point of all this is that I was so glad that I followed my intuition and got off of my butt because I miss my friend...not only were we able to catch up a bit after the game, but it also happened to be her last for a while (hopefully :)). Oh, and did I mention she took some cute pics of Scar too?!

Finally, I forced Scarlett into the bath today - way overdue! There is just nothing sweeter than a freshly bathed child, at least for a few moments. Afterwards, as I dried her hair, I thought I should show off my handiwork (yes, cutting all of your dolls' hair really pays off, eventually)...

Obviously, there are some flaws in the cut, but I have to restrain myself and just put the scissors down after a while. If I didn't refrain from fixing all the flaws, she would probably have a buzz. Anyway, she gets compliments all the time not only on the color (which I pay $$$ to try to immitate on my own hair), but also the cut...which I must brag is quite flattering to her face, hair texture, and color.

Dead Fries

So, today I got a late start on running a couple of errands. Since it was really close to lunch time and I didn't want Scarlett to turn into a complete beast before I could complete my tasks, I decided to stop and grab a kids' meal for her at Wendy's. Well, I was glad that I did because it did help keep the peace and I was able to get everything done. However, in the car on the way home I asked her if she had eaten all her food. She replied that her "fries died." When I looked in the bag the fries were half eaten, and definitely "dead" - cold and nasty! Apparently, her chicken nuggets had died too, sad.

"Princess" Bed

Even though most of the time I feel exhausted and achy, I am still trying to stay active and get things done. I actually think I've done better lately than in the past and it makes me wonder, "What the heck did I do with all my time before?!" Now, I am not a super-hero by any measure, but I admit that I have been super-lazy in the past.

My latest project was not a great feat, but I am very excited and pleased with it. Since we have such limited space, and money, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about and searching for a new bed for Scarlett. My main focus was to find one that was high enough to store stuff underneath...of course I found the perfect bed in the Pottery Barn teen catalogue! Unfortunately, it was a wee bit over my budget. Could I make it myself? Sometimes I am ambitious, but my lack of energy and skills brought me down to reality. So, what was my solution? With the help of my best shopping buddies, Mom and Scarlett, we found a place that sells old dorm beds. Damien sanded it down, I painted and he assembled, and ...

VOILA!

Not only did the bed come with a mattress (I added a foam mattress topper), but it is high enough to put bins underneath, long enough for Damien to comfortably lay on and sturdy enough for even a large adult. It is really comfy too. Best yet, Scarlett loves it and calls it her "princess bed". If anyone actually reads this and is curious about where to find extremely sturdy furniture at a great price, let me know.

In Need of Inspiration

I am working on a million different little projects right now...well, at least in my mind! Unfortunately, I am a little distracted by all of the purging and organizing I need to get done before the new babe arrives. So, I thought I would just post this picture of Scarlett in the Easter dress I made for her. My camera let me down on the photo, for some reason I could not get rid of the cloudy look and NO I was not trying to create a "glamour shot" photo. Still, I am pretty proud of how it turned out and of course, she really made it look sweet. For now it is a little reminder of what I am capable of and can accomplish.

The Party Just Officially Started, I am BLOGGING!

Thanks to all the wonderful blogs I've been reading over the last several months...I have finally decided to join the blogging world. I'm not exactly sure what I will focus on (I'm pretty self-conscious about this still), but it will probably be devoted to my crafty ambitions. So, until next time...